Tuesday's Gone
by JXSilverXJ
Summary: She left him in an unexpected predicament. Four months later, she shows up unexpectedly back at the place where it all started. SxS /Slight AU/
1. Segment I: Spring Reunion I

Date initiated: May 4th, 2010

Genre: Friendship/Romance(?)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. All belongs to Gosho Aoyama.

A/N: Heya! Welcome to my next fic (lol, actually it's more of an attempt). With this one, I'll try to probably take a light approach. It'll be devoid of, or if any are present, lame humor - I've never been great at that sort of thing. A hint of angst from my previous pieces seem to follow me everywhere, so expect that too but I'll try to keep things clear and light. But please do bear with me.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Off we go.

* * *

It was a cool and sunny day. The morning breeze that wafted across the streets of Beika was a rare occurrence which was savored by each citizen of the bustling city. It was barely eight in the morning, yet people milled about carrying on with their scheduled daily activities with vigor. There were some who were dressed in formal suits with briefcases in hand, others with simple backpacks heading off to work. There were some who stood by casually, chatting with others on the sidewalks. And of course, there's the occasional group of teenagers in their school uniforms, all ready for another day in school. Their expressions and actions was a definite indication of their soaring mood and spirits.

Around a few corners, a young girl around the age of eighteen emerged from one of the many subway terminals that dotted the metropolitan city. Donning a light blue buttoned blazer and matching skirt that stopped just above her knees and red and white sneakers to fit in, she adjusted the backpack that was slung over a shoulder before pulling the white cap that sat on her head lower, concealing her face from onlookers. The people around passed by her, some in groups while others by themselves with hurried paces.

She smiled softly as her eyes darted around to glance at the random streets and buildings she had come to know.

She was back.

Looking up from her feet for the first time, the green-blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a momentary uncharacteristic glint, the foreign strawberry blonde hair framing her face gently that barely reached up to her shoulder.

"Welcome back, Miyano..." Softly, she said to apparently no one but herself. Stopping by a bus stop sign, she stood by along with a few others dressed like her. The boys donned light blue slacks, instead, which gave the impression that they were some sort of school uniforms. A bus approached the stop and one of the energetic girls ran over to intercept it.

"Let's go, guys!" Said girl, shouted over her shoulder.

Definitely energetic, alright.

"Hey, it's not gonna be leaving you behind." Another one huffed with an air of annoyance that failed to hide a hint of a smile in her voice.

Shiho Miyano looked up and at the signboard hanging from the windshield of the bus. Cuing up behind the others, she stepped in.

Next stop, Teitan High.

* * *

Somewhere else a few miles away, a long dark brown-haired girl stood in front of the doors of a large house. Her posture as she stood – arms crossed and her foot tapping the ground, not to mention that obvious frown on her face – pointed to none other than an annoyed expression. Her hand reached out for the handle bar to push it open, but just as she was about to, it was yanked out of her grasp and door was pulled inwards.

A drowsy looking teenager that she had known for years just yawned and gave a brief wave in greeting as he rubbed his eyes with his other hand, a buttered sandwich held between his teeth.

"Shinichi!" The girl shoved her face right next to his.

The boy, eighteen year old Shinichi Kudo, blinked suddenly looking fully awake as the girl's voice echoed in his ear.

"Can't you hurry up with whatever you were doing for once?" She continued.

The high school detective huffed in a mocking way and crossed his arms, holding the sandwich for a moment to speak. "Well, I would've been much faster if it weren't for a certain someone who happens to be shouting through the door every five minutes."

The girl just glared at him.

He laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Ran. You know I'm just messing with you." He flashed her his trademark grin.

Ran Mouri, his childhood friend, tried to hold the frown but even she knew it would not last. She found herself smiling at him.

"Well, alright." She conceded. "Maybe next time, waking up earlier would help."

That was a lame attempt to try and hold the upper hand on him. She knew she hindered him and that was her fault. She had been pulling that door open and close for the past twenty minutes or so, just to shout to him to hurry up. Each time, Shinichi would poke his head out of the doorway of a different room – sometimes telling her that it's no need to rush, sometimes he's 'trying' and sometimes, just to tell her to stuff it.

"Yeah, sure..." Shinichi snorted jokingly. "Want some?" He held the sandwich to her and she shook her head.

"I'm good, thanks."

The teen wordlessly gobbled down the bread and wiped his hands on the tissue wrap.

As they walked towards Teitan High, they chatted about this and that, commented on the on goings around them and just plain teased each other and laughing at their antics. It was just like back in the day, as if nothing had happened.

As if they had never been separated at all.

Ran had never felt more alive. At least she didn't notice ever since Shinichi disappeared one night after their trip to Tropical Land, claiming he had been trying to solve a difficult case. She hadn't seen him for about over a year, but then suddenly, he appeared at the Detective Mouri Agency doorstep one late night in battered clothes and with bandages wrapped around his head and on other injuries he seemingly sustained.

It started with the question 'why'.

Just that one word, when it slipped out of her mouth as she eyed him involuntarily. She didn't know what had happened but in the next few minutes she found herself listening to Shinichi confessing everything.

How he was going after an underground criminal organization, trying to take it down.

How he had worked trying to do so and explained his reasons and his motives for bringing it down.

How he was shrunk back into a seven year old and 'had been around you all the time'...

He told her everything.

That's when it all clicked. Ran felt a number of emotions surge through her – skepticism, anger and hurt. She was skeptical to his explanations, angry because he had lied to her and hurt because he chose to leave her in the dark. She just screamed at him, that night. She was grateful that her dad Kogoro Mouri wasn't home or he would've thrown a tantrum that would've been thrice as worse in the presence of the high school detective.

But somewhere along her fury, she found herself slowly breaking down until she couldn't hold it anymore. She let herself cry. She let her suppressed emotions of frustration and pain out all at once. The thing that she remembered was Shinichi holding her, whispering comforting words as he hugged her, apologizing over and over.

Ran had forgiven him soon enough. She knew she would not be able to hold it to him. Who was she to blame him for lying to her to protect her?

But still even with knowing that, it left a sting. She didn't know why he left her in the dark.

Didn't he trust her enough to understand... or was there something else that he didn't tell her?

Perhaps something already obvious but she could not grasp...?

But looking back at him now as they laughed, she smiled. What is important now is that he was alive, here and no longer in threat of danger anymore.

Somewhere in between her musings and reality though, she felt her smile fall flat. Shinichi's laughter subsided gradually, leaving a painfully soft smile lingering on his lips. The look on his face was a million light years from the situation they just have shared. What was supposed to leave a contented smile or even a grin on any other person's expression, left a clouded far-away look on Shinichi's eyes. Out of all the faces Shinichi showed, this one were the most recent she came to know of... or see but could not understand, to be more precise.

Ran had noticed that he had changed somewhat subtly – physically yes, but also mentally. There was this glint in his eyes that she couldn't explain. She had wanted to ask several times what he was thinking about, what had been bothering him but always bit her tongue at the last second. Maybe it was the change in him, but she wasn't sure. Heavy silence that descended immediately changed the light mood and as always, Ran kept to herself once again. She felt as though even by being in his presence at such a time, she was trespassing.

And before they knew it, they were walking through the gates of Teitan High joining the crowd that was flooding into the halls of the school buildings. Looking at the large clock by the front gates, it indicated that there was about forty minutes to go before homeroom. A little bit too earlier for Shinichi's taste, yet a lot of people had already come in.

The open grounds were abuzz with random conversations. Needlessly to say, they did not miss anything, from their friends and classmates greeting them to simple matters as what subjects they would be taking for the whole day.

But what they did miss was the bus that rolled to a halt in front of the school gates, just as they stepped into the building's interior.

* * *

Shinichi Kudo, genius high school detective, plopped down in his seat tiredly, immediately laying his head on the desk. Looking around briefly, he glanced at his classmates. Some were talking in whispers, some did not bother with keep their voices down as their laughter rang out as loud as it could get in the morning, and some at the back of the class desperately trying to copy yesterday's assigned assignment. Nothing much changed between the time he was shrunk and the time he reverted back to his body. Definitely your average high school day.

Only then he noticed the corners of his mouth were stinging slightly.

The facade dropped.

He glanced around the classroom again. No one even gave him a glance at his seat near the back of the class besides the cheerful morning greeting to a friend. Ran had split up from him in the hallways, being dragged off by one Sonoko Suzuki for who-knows-what. He guessed probably another gossip with which Ran would end up being pissed off at.

He sighed slightly. He might try to deny it... but he knew everything, from the smiles he smiled to the cheerful exterior he put up sometimes, it was just fake.

It was plastic.

Where was the old Shinichi that he knew to be himself?

Where was that detective who would smirk whenever something was going on in his mind?

Where was the arrogant teen that would do anything to get his way?

Where was that care-free attitude?

Looking back now, it all seemed like...

...Someone else's reality. That was all he could describe it as.

He himself did not know, as well. All he knew was he changed somehow. His outlook on different things was changed, from the subtle day-to-day life routine to the smallest unnoticeable things.

Except for one thing.

His mind wandered back to a certain incident.

* * *

_Shinichi stood in front of the Agasa Residence. From the looks of the house, interior cast in evening darkness, he assumed the Professor wasn't home. Knocking briefly on the door, he entered and shut the door behind him._

"_Hey, Haibara." He called out immediately. No reply._

_He scoffed mentally. Typical Shiho, really. Probably locked up in her room or the lab doing who knows what on that computer of hers. Descending to the basement, he found it empty and dark, unoccupied. He looked around once more to make sure he had not missed her in the darkness, and proceeded upstairs to the second floor._

"_Haibara." He called out again as he stood in front of her room. "Are you in there?" His hand moved to the knob and was about to turn it when he found the door slightly ajar. Pushing it open, the door creaked slightly as he was greeted by the same layout of the room he had once seen it in._

_Moving in slowly, he glanced around. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The desk, wardrobe and the bookshelf seem untouched. The bed was neatly kept, window curtains closed as they always have been._

_But it was so quiet that he felt something was... wrong._

_He moved cautiously towards the computer desk and was greeted by a folded note. Reaching out slowly, he unfolded it as his mind began to wander to the worst scenario. On the piece of paper, was a neat handwritten message in red ink, the calligraphy of which he attributed to a certain strawberry blonde._

"_I'm sorry, Kudo..." He whispered it aloud. It did not take him a fraction of a second to realize the situation. Glancing around the room frantically, he called out her name once more. With no reply, he dashed over to the window and parted the curtains hastily to look outside. Not a single person was out and about._

"_No..." He whispered in disbelief as he scrunched up the note with a shaky hand. He didn't know what to feel. The detective being himself, flipped the whole house upside down with a dim hope that he himself knew would be proven false. And he was right, the house was completely vacant. As if no one had lived in it. _

_Back at her room, all her belongings were left behind – the small clothes she once wore to the books and novels she had owned. Everything, except for the picture of her sister – the evidence being the empty picture frame on the bedside table._

_She had really left..._

* * *

That had been just a few weeks after the fall of the Black Organization. The FBI had its ways, he would say – it was a series of covert raids on its nests and sabotages within the infrastructure of the syndicate. How they had achieved that, he did not know, since he himself knew next to nothing about them. But one way or another, they have managed to do it. The National Security Branch unit of the FBI managed to recover all sorts of data from the organized computer mainframe of the Organization's network connecting it to several unresolved crimes and murders and illegal trafficking spanning the globe.

Aside from that, data of its activities and projects were also recovered. Shiho was able to recover the Apotoxin-4869 data and successfully, develop the counter-agent shortly. Needless to say, he was ecstatic when he reverted back to his body.

But now, he did not know for the life of him, where that went - why he felt hollow. Nothing had ever been the same when Shiho had left that evening, with only so much as a note left behind. That pathetic short note signed as 'Sherry'.

So it was still 'Sherry', huh? She never did get him at all...

He didn't understand. Why? Why did she leave? What the hell was she thinking, anyway? Why did she-

He sighed. He tried not to think about it as much as he could but would almost always find himself thinking about her involuntarily. He played with the idea of asking the FBI to track her down, but he abandoned that. As much as he wanted to, he knew Shiho wouldn't like it. And he respected her.

So instead, he tried to deny how he was feeling, play along like nothing was wrong.

He knew he was only fooling himself...

Looking out of the window by his seat, he watched the same old yellow school bus roll away from the gate. He chuckled in apathy. He never realized he would miss her. It was really ironic to him. He never expected to miss Shiho's witty retorts, the glares she would send his way or even just her presence. She was... different, to him – a unique person all together. She intrigued him to no end with that slightly distant personality and nature of hers. She always kept to herself, rarely ever conversing unless spoken to. Or otherwise, provoked, he would say.

He only wished he could see her one more time. Inside, he knew he wanted to. For the last four months that she had disappeared, like the wind with time, he never felt like this towards anyone. It was like she had become a part of him that he was not able leave behind. Just four months, some would say...

'Haibara...'

He would only say this though. That girl, she had taught him a lot despite the difference in their personalities and nature. She taught him about imperfection and humbleness. He no longer walked around basking in fame, 'grinning like some big hotshot' as Ran had once put it.

When he was shrunk to Conan Edogawa, the whole world seemed just like one hell of a stinking dump. It was nothing compared to what he was used to – a perfect world with the fame and attention being the Detective of the East. Instead, he was kicked over a hundred squares back and even though that had only lasted for about a little over a year, _she_ had made him see that it was never and would never be a perfect world.

Life itself, would never be perfect.

She made him look past that arrogance of his, and face reality. Life is imperfect, but what would make it great are the little things that it would give you.

Give you, but most people would not notice unless something happened...

"Hey, Kudo. Could you give us a hand here?" Shinichi heard one of his classmates desperately call out, probably for some help with the assignment. One of the slackers, he was sure.

Other times, he would just brush it off such requests with a 'Screw you. You should have done it yesterday' look while he smirked at the glaring person. But right now, it seemed more appealing to help them out with nothing better to do.

Sighing, he got up grabbing the necessary textbook and headed for their spot past the empty seat beside his. It will probably do him some good. Giving the grounds a once over, he failed to notice a single white hue among the throng of blue as he moved away from the window.

* * *

She was back, back to Beika city. A place that she had left and tried to leave behind – a place that meant a great deal to her. Her mind wandered back to that day four months prior. It was a coward way out, she knew, but also the easiest. Not for the first time ever, Shiho wondered how Shinichi reacted to her leaving. Probably, he would just blow off a tantrum at Agasa's and forget about her, all together. She wasn't the sort of person someone would like to remember, anyway. If anyone, it would just be the sake of contempt.

Shiho let out a silent chuckle. How pathetic of her to have run away like that. She should have known she would lose, though. She had left the town with best interests in mind – not for herself but for that detective.

She left to able to give him a chance to move on. Give him a second chance at the life she indirectly snatched away – a life with _her, Ran._ Her existence was like a shadow. As long as she was around and about, Shiho knew he would not be able to completely leave everything behind. And besides, she really had no reason to stay. At first, it seemed pretty easy to do. But then, she began to doubt if she really wanted to do it.

'Do I...?' That question flitted into her mind more and more often. '_Can I...?_'

But her being Shiho, reasonable and rational, she left nevertheless. Even though she herself was a victim, that did not make her any better than a fugitive for being the one responsible for their predicament.

So, she left. She left him behind; left the house she called home for the last year. She never did belong here. Of course, that was never the only thing that drove her to leave as well...

But it was Shinichi's words themselves that would lead her back here again, and today where she stood. She didn't know how he would react – would he scream and blame her again like last time? Or would he shove her aside like he never noticed her this time? - she didn't know. But she wouldn't turn away.

'_Don't run away, Haibara... Don't run away from fate.'_

Just exactly what she would do. He told her that, he taught her.

Because, to her, Shinichi was not just a person that happened to cross her path. He was a friend she relied on and a confidant in whom she had confided in some of her most personal matters and dark secrets. Shinichi was a person she trusts and something more.

She might never find out how, but he managed to break her out of her shell – that indifferent layer she held as a shield - and expose that frightened vulnerable girl that lie forgotten inside. He saved her from the cold withering hand of Death that she so welcomed numerous times. He shined a ray of hope that beckoned for her when all around was just endless blackness of despair and lies.

He made her _feel. _Again.

Shiho never asked for any of those, yet he gave it unknowingly to her. He made her _breathe _in life again. She supposed it was one of the things that managed to win her trust in him. And how, without thinking, her feelings would slip into comfort and ease whenever he was around. How he made her feel _human_.

She must be losing her touch, she thought. She was surprised that he managed to have an influence on her, however unnoticeable it would still be on the outside.

"Alright, here we are." An awkwardly cheery voice suddenly broke her from her reverie.

A woman around her early thirties was looking up at a small label above a door. Turning to the strawberry blonde, she handed her a small cardboard slip that detailed her schedule. "In you go, Miyano-san. I might as well introduce you to everyone. Classes are about start shortly."

Accepting the slip, Shiho pocketed it while sliding the door open, mumbling a silent 'Thank you, Amagi-sensei' and stepped in. She would be having a share of personal space in 3-E for the year. She wondered how this would go from here this time, without the pressure from the Black Organization. Stepping in through the door into the noisy classroom, she moved to stand by the teacher's table just in front of the clean whiteboard, followed by Amagi-sensei.

It was just another normal Tuesday for everyone. Maybe she would find out for herself.

* * *

A/N: Slow pace much? Haha, probably... Anyway, this would be my first multi-chaptered fic but also just a trial - so please bear with me. I've been hesitating to post this one up but after some nagging, I've decided to give it a shot. I can't make any promises on swift or sooner updates - think of it as a warning. I'll probably be having my hands tied with the coming days but I'll see what I can do. I hope it wasn't as bad as I seem to look at it like, though. But no matter.

If you've made it this far out reading this, I thank you. Well, I hope you enjoyed it at the very least anyway. Laters! *disapoofs*


	2. Segment II: Spring Reunion II

A/N: First up, a word of appreciation - a big thank you to all who reviewed the first chapter! I appreciate your comments and feedback. I was kind of astounded that it was received in a positive way (according to those who reviewed) and I hope this chapter would be on par with it. Well, on with it then.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

* * *

Shinichi stood before a group of his classmates with an annoyed frown on his face. God, he really could use someone to smack these guys senseless. That is, if they had any sense in the first place.

"C'mon, Kudo!" One of them said in exasperation. "Can you make it a bit simpler? I really don't care about these guys at the moment." He gestured to the others beside him. "I really can't flunk this one or I'll be needing to attend summer school!"

Shinichi's eyebrows twitched as did the rest of the group but for obviously different reasons.

Make it simple...? What the hell is so complicated to make it simple?

He opened the book he held to the page where his index finger was lodged for quick references as he 'tried' to help them. He read the question.

'Hey, hey... You've gotta be kidding, right?' Although Shinichi had an inkling as to what they were thinking of to make it 'simpler', he shut the book and crossed his arms. "You did read the piece, right...?" He asked them with restrained frustration.

The group nodded awkwardly with hesitance, an action that totally gave away their little lie. He lost it there mentally, but he played along with them. "Then write what you think of it or how you interpreted it." Shincihi replied with a restrained voice to keep the sarcasm out. The only response were numerous blank stares.

"-And no, my paper would stay with me." The detective ended firmly.

The boys' shoulders slumped with a collective sighs of defeat. Shinichi wasn't about to risk on Classic Literature, no. "C'mon, a hundred word limit is not much to ask for. I've explained it to you, so you can use some of that. You could do worse."

The group mumbled something he couldn't make out among the loud chatter and dejectedly tried to go back to their work.

"What?" Shinichi half-gritted out and half-asked to their prior comment but he found himself cut short. He heard the door at the front of the classroom slide open before someone, a newcomer by the looks of it, stepped in followed by his professor, Amagi-sensei.

He frowned as he watched the newcomer. His eyes darted over to the white cap that was sitting on the girl's head. Where had he seen that...? He could have sworn he...

"Hey, isn't it a bit early for a teacher to be in a classroom?" Shinichi vaguely heard a student whisper which was followed up by similar reactions from others.

"Settle down, class." Amagi-sensei said in her stern voice but with a smile on her face. "It seems you are having a new student in your class again this time, aside from Kudo-san here."

Shinichi barely could make out what the teacher was saying. He watched the girl closely with a frown. The girl bore a striking resemblance from the smallest of details he could remember. He wondered what he would have expected to prepare him when the girl lifted her head at a prompt to introduce herself.

Reddish blonde hair, with blue eyes that were as rich as the clear skies mixed with a dark hue of nature green, the pale complexity and the hard look.

His eyes widened slightly. He knew he had recognized the way she held herself together. It was just the way she had as she stepped into his class at Teitan Elementary School back that day. That white cap... it was the one he had given her to wear as a disguise that one time but never bothered to get it back again. And to think she had kept it all this while. He had always thought she had gotten rid of it soon after, since he never asked for it again.

He never thought he would see her again, at least not as soon as four months later.

Yet here she was.

His hand that held the book slowly lost it's grip on the article and it landed on the tile floor with a resounding thump.

"Haibara...?"

Everything faded into a blurry blend of backgrounds as his blue eyes met hers. His face held a look between obvious surprise and partial disbelief. So many questions flitted around his mind, but all he did was stand rooted to his spot, stunned and silent.

On Shiho's part, she didn't know what to say. She had expected to walk in a room where no one knew her, where everyone would meet her with a look of curiosity that she disliked and take a seat in the back row away from everyone - shunning everyone out. She maintained a blank stare for a moment despite the situation, which she may have called awkward, and turned to scan the class. Each person seemed to be either staring at her or at the detective with confused looks.

"Shiho Miyano." She introduced herself shortly. A cool voice that was flat which sounded uninterested in whatever daily affairs they had to discuss. As if she never knew compassion at all.

No one spoke. A few heads turned over to her direction, curiosity swimming in their eyes, waiting for her to say something more.

Shiho just stared back colorlessly.

Curiosity turned into disappointment and Amagi-sensei decided to break the silence. This girl was intriguing...

"Right..." She started quite awkwardly. "Let's see... about a seat-"

The door slid open suddenly, cutting off the teacher. The person who was about to step in, froze still.

"I'm sorry, sensei..." Ran stood at the doorway looking flustered, tucking a strand of long hair behind her ear. She clearly had ran all the way to the class. Damn that Sonoko. Her and her gossips. She shouldn't have partaken in it, but she supposed she had no choice, being literally dragged away. And now that girl was off chasing the subject of her gossip, in favor of attending class. Ran definitely wasn't one to go that far.

The teacher waved her off shortly with a smile. "Not to worry, Mouri-san. Please, do step in." She gestured.

Upon seeing who it was, Shiho immediately took the chance as all eyes diverted over to Ran's spot at the doorway, pulled the cap lower and wordlessly stepped off the four-inch high platform, heading for the back of the classroom by the windows. Ran was in this class, it would seem... Talk about overlapping unfavorable coincidences.

Shinichi silently stared after her as he watched her take a vacant seat right next to the windows in his column, two rows away behind his. It was like he was spell bound. What was she doing here...? No scratch that, _why_ was she here?

"Is there something on my face, tantei-san?" He heard her say with the same dreary monotone voice that always echoed as she spoke.

He blinked. What...? A small unnoticeable smirk tugged at her lips as she cast him a momentary glance over her shoulder. That smirk - how he missed it. It took him moment, before it clicked somewhat. He forced down that temptation to smirk back at her comment.

'...Oh, lovely.' He thought sarcastically.

Huffing, he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby table. "Oh yeah. Nice to meet you, too..."

"It seems you know each other, Kudo-san. Would you mind showing her around the school during recess?" Shinichi heard the teacher again. He shot a shameless glare over to the teacher's table and was about protest but then he saw an opportunity. Maybe he could ask her all the questions that he needed answers to then. Nodding dejectedly, he accepted.

Shiho simply shrugged when the teacher looked her way for a confirmation, turned away from them and took her seat.

"Do you know her, Shinichi?" Ran approached Shinichi with the question.

"Kind of..." He replied hesitantly with a low voice. "She was one of the people I've worked with during that... case."

All around him the chatter began again while some moved back to their places to get ready. Turning to look at his friend, he smiled slightly. He never told her of who Ai Haibara really was, he never told her about the girl's true background. In Ran's mind, he supposed Ai Haibara was just a kid who was too mature for her age, a child who just knew too much.

Ran blinked. She was sure she never had met her, but the aura that was strangely present felt familiar. She turned her eyes to look at the newcomer. "Don't tell me she's a detective." She said playfully with a half-smile. Even though she looked young, age was never a matter in a detective career – Shinichi was proof of that. She somewhat knew that.

"No..." he chuckled slightly. "But she could easily become one..." Shinichi pushed himself off and walked over to pick up his book before making his way back to his seat.

Ran watched her friend, slightly intrigued, the smile on her face falling slightly.

"Deja vu?" Ran heard girl's voice say as Shinichi plopped down silently, shifting his backpack over to the table instead. Once again, the voice and the way she talked sounded kind of familiar.

"You tell me..." The detective grunted shortly over his shoulder before he glanced out of the window. Shinichi had half the mind to dump all the questions right here and now, but even before he could think of one to start off with, he heard the warning bell echo through out the building signifying students had five minutes to get ready for class. Sighing, he supposed he would have to sit through the classes first.

* * *

They were walking around the school premises. Shinichi didn't even know what he was to do. What was it again...?

Oh right...

He cast a side glance at the girl walking beside him. He was to show Shiho around the school. Or was supposed to, anyway. He didn't have his mind on it at all. The two were walking around with a few inches noticeable gap between them, and haven't said a word to each other since the beginning of classes despite being new classmates. It was quite unexpected, today was. Maybe it was the unresolved tension between them that he himself was seeking answers to.

Shinichi shoved his hands inside his pockets and turned his eyes downwards. His companion was no different, clutching her upper left arm with her right hand, and forcing herself to look around with every few steps. She clearly found everything uninteresting from the look on her face.

What was he supposed to say, though? Or more likely, how should he ask?

He thought of kicking things off with small talk, but it definitely would turn out to be nonsensical jabbering. Pushing that aside in the end, he decided to do it the old fashioned way. With his agile nature, his hand shot out and quickly grabbed her left wrist, pulling her after him.

Shiho was a bit startled as she was pulled after Shinichi, causing her to stumble over a few steps. Pulling her cap over her face again, she followed after him letting him lead her to wherever he had in mind.

Dodging crowds and groups of students milling about during the break, the two of them finally found themselves at the back of the vacant swimming pool area. The breeze that wafted through the fence enclosing the perimeter of the pool was cool for a noon time – a brilliant silent and relaxing spot.

Shiho felt her back being shoved against a nearby tree gently. Shutting her eyes momentarily, she crossed her arms and looked back up calmly at Shinichi who had his hands on either of her shoulders with a serious look on his face. She knew what was to come.

"Haibara, why...?" She finally heard him speak. She didn't reply but just continued to maintain eye contact.

"Why did you leave...?" His voice was much quieter this time, hiding a hint of pleading tone that didn't go unnoticed by her. His grip on her shoulders loosened slightly but still stayed firm as emphasis that he wanted answers, and wanted them now.

"Does it matter, Kudo?" She asked bluntly with a razor sharp tone.

She watched him blink before a frown perched itself on his face. "What do you think...?" He asked sarcastically.

"What do _you _think?" Shiho immediately ricocheted his question, without missing a single beat with a serious and cold voice. Ignoring his sarcasm, her eyes turning cold. Like the sharp color of misty white of a shrouding fog.

Shinichi's frown turned borderline-glare and he bit back a retort. Was he asking too much by that? And what's with the tone – is she trying to mess with him again?

Shiho watched his light ocean blue eyes darken slightly. She sighed softly. "What does it matter...?" she whispered again.

That seemed to catch his attention, the second time. "What...?"

The chemist huffed. Shinichi must be losing his skill luster. She sent a slightly intimidating and taunting smirk. It was just an attempt to stall.

Shiho wanted him to drop it himself, but his usual reaction of frowning with annoyance did not grace his face this time. Instead it was a blank look as he refused to meet her eye and stare at something over her shoulder. Watching him compose a reply silently, she decided to end this. "...Just forget about it." She said dismissively.

Shrugging his hands off her shoulder, they slid down her arms absentmindedly, an action that however unintentionally they looked, unexpectedly sent palpitations to her heart, a shiver all over her body and goosebumps on her arms. She cursed herself for the involuntary response, clutched her left arm again and moved to push past him only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist again.

"Is that all what you think of yourself...?" Shiho heard him ask darkly. She didn't move or look back. "Just stop, Haibara..."

"What good is it when I'm around? No one would care if I am or not, anyway..." She bowed her head. Her mind screamed for her to get out here quick.

"You know that's not true." Shiho heard him begin flatly, but softly. "The professor cares about you..."

She scoffed but did not say anything.

"The Detective Boys care about you." His voice dropped.

"They care for Ai Haibara, not Shiho Miyano." A cold monotonous voice.

'So you're trying to tell me that doesn't count?' The thought echoed in his head colorlessly. But what came out was different.

"I do." Even lower.

Alert sirens seemed to be practically setting off inside her head one after the other. What...? Skepticism echoed clearly as the word echoed inside her head. Risking a surprised glance over her shoulder, she kept still. For once, she couldn't read what was going on in that detective's mind but the soft look that was hidden underneath the guarded expression... it looked like warmth. It was something she had never seen him look at her with. But just as fast she has spotted it, it disappeared. Her prolonged silence seemed to tip Shinichi off into a different direction, though.

The detective gritted his teeth and turned around to face her. Just how longer is this going to drag on? But then again, he supposed he would expect no different – Shiho never did give him a straightforward answer when it came to being questioned, especially by him. She would always give a vague reply or side-step it completely – probably even use the question against him to throw him off, as well. Just like what she had done a few moments ago. Just what is going on in that head of hers?

Before he could form a coherent word, she smirked. That expression itself seemed to shut him up. Wordlessly, she took off the white cap and offered it to Shinichi. The detective stared down at the article, puzzled, but took it anyway albeit with hesitance.

"Don't run away..." He heard her speak quietly, smirk still in place.

Pulling her hand out of his grasp, Shiho shoved her hands into her blazer's pockets and strode off towards the school's main building. Turning around a corner, she allowed a soft smile to break out on her lips. It might have looked pretty arrogant and ungrateful, but it was her way of saying thanks. Old habits die hard even with the touch of a certain degree of sincerity. She wasn't sure why or what it was, but she would accept it for now.

A silent mouthed 'Thank you, Kudo' left her lips like a breeze blowing across a green filed. She hoped the slight wind that blew across her face, would carry it over to him.

Shinichi watched Shiho's retreating back with a frown. "Really..." He muttered. Looking down at cap hooked on his fingers, he shook his head slightly. She had never changed, it would seem. He had lost it again. The moment he took the cap, he knew he had lost. Spinning it around his index finger, he trudged the path that Shiho took towards the class.

She was like a question he could never find a real answer to. He wondered when would he be able to find that, if he had a chance to.

That had gone as best as it could have, though he would've wanted to really know why she left. But as always, it would take a practical mind reader to get around her intentions. Shrugging, he pushed it aside.

On his way back to class, he walked through the open grounds. Students playing different sports were scattered over the basketball court, the football field and some at the enclosed tennis courts. He looked up at the clear sky with a slight smile.

Somehow...

Why was it bright all of a sudden...?

* * *

A/N: Hmm.. I don't know what to make of this. I hope I didn't blow it up skyhigh with this update, although I'm sure some are probably already screaming at their screens for me to stop writing. *sigh* Anyway, I suppose that was the last chunk. Also, I apologize if the POVs seem a bit shifty.

Well, laters!


	3. Segment III: Summer Intimacy

A/N: Once again, thanks for the wonderful reviews, you guys! Your words get me in the mood and motivates me write more. Definitely one of the best feelings an author (a newbie, no less) could feel. Anyway, here's chapter three. Please forgive any typos on my part but I would appreciate it, if you point it out to me. I do tend to miss out some even after proofreading it but that's just natural, right? I will fix it up right away.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Detective Conan. I just 'borrow' them in hopes of writing a decent fic. All properties belong to their respective owners.

* * *

_His lungs were burning. His eyes were bloodshot and he felt that familiar feeling of fatigue trying to claim his consciousness. He struggled to keep his eyes open, not bothering with the rimmed glasses that were askew across his face. Looking around, he could make out numerous shelves around him stocked up with boxes all the way to the top. A few of them, from what he could tell, were wine bottles and other hard drinks_.

_His eyes swept across the room only to find it in flames. Quite a few shelves had already caught fire and blazing inferno was not stopping at all. He tried to hold his breath as he became aware of the thickening grayish-black smoke in the room. Looking around the shelf he was hiding behind, he could make out the figure of a man dressed in black, a silenced pistol in hand and looking around himself in a slightly frantic manner, but with a murderous intent among the sea of crimson. _

_He knew he was looking for him. He was looking for the boy. Or rather..._

_The little boy looked over his shoulder to find a barely conscious injured girl, around his age, holding on to him by the shoulder. Everything in his sight was hazy, fading in and out constantly. And the thick smoke hanging in the air coupled with the fatigue he was sustaining didn't make things any better. The boy felt his eyes drooping and all he wanted to do was give in._

_But he kept himself awake._

"_Nee-san..." He heard a whisper as a breath tickled his neck. _

_It was the girl._

_The boy's lips parted slightly and his eyes widened. "No..." He began quietly. And without thinking, his voice grew loud enough to be heard over the crackling of the fire. _

"_No! Stay awake!" He urged. _

"_Stay with me!" There was clear franticness, dread and worry, the kind of tone when someone was trying to keep someone from falling through. Keep them away from the light at the end. Keep them awake and have them stay in this world..._

_Her forehead slumped against his shoulder, breath weak. A cold feeling washed over him. He needed to get away from here, find help or whatever he could. He needed to get away from this place. Quickly._

_But quickly wasn't to be in his state. Stumbling around, he could barely walk steadily while hoisting another person on his back. A loud crash echoed in the room._

"_Damn it..." He gritted out. It had to be either a part of the ceiling or one of those shelves. If he was lucky..._

"_Put me down..." He heard the whisper again, a weak voice that could be barely heard even at close proximity._

_He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore it._

"_Why...?"_

"_Shut up!" The boy yelled as he turned to look at the disheveled girl on his back, bangs matted to her face with a number of cuts and bruise. He caught sight of her eyes, strangely empty and taxed before her eyelids slid shut._

_The girl fell silent but he could still feel her breathing._

_'Hold on...' He pleaded mentally._

_The boy pushed himself to make a quick dash to the door through the narrow spaces of fire. All thoughts of trying to stay hidden flew out of his mind. All he knew was he needed to get out._

_Three steps._

_'Just please hold on...'_

_Another crash among the daunting crackles. He turned the knob with one hand as he tried to balance the weight on his back and the first blow of conditioned cool air hit his face._

_'Haibara...'_

_He took a large gulp of air before his vision was met with blinding light._

* * *

Shinichi woke with a start, bolting up-right and immediately collapsing back down on whatever he was sleeping on due to an uncomfortable head rush. His head hit something which felt like a hand rest of a sofa seat. Cracking an eye open, he took a deep breathe and looked about without moving in an attempt to reassemble his bearings. First thing he could make out was, it was dark but barely bright enough to make out things around himself.

He assumed evening was drawing close but one glance at his digital wrist-watch which replaced his tranquilizer watch he wore when he was shrunk, it told him otherwise. It was approaching daybreak – dawn.

There was about an hour left before morning proper but he knew more than anyone that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Stretching, he sat up-right and rubbed his eyes. It seemed he overslept for a short afternoon nap but it didn't matter. The cool air conditioned atmosphere suddenly seemed stale and he stood up immediately with every intention to step out into the open.

With quiet almost stealthy footsteps, he slipped through the second floor hallways and made his way towards the stairs that would lead to the roof.

With his eyes trained on his feet, Shinichi climbed the stairs with a seemingly absent mind. But in actuality, he was trying to distance his thoughts away from the dream that so persistently tried to keep flooding back in. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose stopping for a second to lean against the staircase railing. Suddenly, the thought of heading outside did not seem appealing anymore. His mind changed swiftly as if unsure of what to do. Turning away from the door that stood at the top of the stairs, he took the two steps back and continued down the hallway.

Well, might as well...

* * *

_She didn't know what to do. She wanted to turn away. She wanted to run. But every wish seemed to be denied. Instead, the little girl was rooted to her spot, expression frozen into a blank look._

_The sound of the slide being cocked back to load the gun echoed and reached her ear. Suddenly quite alert, she focused her eyes up front. A clear figure of a man in black, coldly training a pistol against her stood a few yards away, a black hat tipped over his eyes. The light from the headlights of a car behind him engulfed his figure making it difficult to make out anything. But she didn't need any clue other than the black suit and slacks the man donned. She froze._

_Silent laughter hummed at the back of his throat. "Didn't think it would take long now, eh?" The man asked._

"_Escaped our attempts numerous times... Attempting a retaliation... Siding with the Silver Bullet."_

_'Move... Damn it, move!'_

_A smirk curved his lips. "You've caused us quite a grievance..." Raising his head, his cold sadistic gray eyes zeroed on to the little girl. "This little game ends here..."_

_His finger moved to pull the trigger with a grin splitting his face._

_The girl held her breath and braced herself. So this is how it's going to end, huh...? After months of dodging them left and right with a few close calls..._

_Is this really how it would end...? _

_She smirked suddenly, effectively hiding the cold fear that ran amok inside her. _

_It seems her time had run out._

_To be caught in this trap that was so obviously laid out but-_

"_Haibara!"_

_Almost in slow motion, the smirk on her face fell as the girl turned towards the sound of her name to find another boy running towards her with a hand outstretched. As if trying desperately to grab on to something that kept moving ahead of him and out of his arms reach. Desperate... and foolish. _

_...He wouldn't make it._

_Two shots echoed from the barrel of the gun._

_She smiled in resignation._

_The boy did not stop._

_The bullets zoomed towards their intended target soaring gracefully through the air, intending to spill crimson._

_Ten seconds... All in ten seconds._

_She felt herself being propelled with force, giving her a floating sensation for a moment - in which direction, she wasn't sure but that didn't matter. She waited for a pair of cold arms that would claim her but no such feeling reached her. Just a dull stinging pain that she later would recognize from a scrape and her back landing against a hard and rough surface._

_What's going on...?_

_The little girl forced her eyes open and gritted her teeth as her head throbbed from the impact. She felt someone sprawled half-way over her and she sat up. Her eyes widened as her eyes fell on the boy's figure._

_Two shots._

_A reddening blue clothing._

_Two bloody holes... At the left shoulder and lower left abdomen._

_Two holes that were meant for her._

_He had taken the shots._

_She broke out in a cold sweat. _

_It can't be right... He wasn't moving. _

_A hand reached out slowly disbelievingly towards the boy but almost immediately, it shot towards his figure quickly. Turning him on his back, his cut and bruised face with skewed glasses that rubbed against the concrete tilted towards her with half-lidded eyes. His lips tried to curve into a smirk but it ended up expressing a grimace._

"_You idiot..." The boy said with a silent chuckle."I told you, didn't I?" A few short breaths escaped his lips._

_The foremost thought that broke through her was about that trap_.

_But what came out of his mouth practically stoned her out._

"_I told you, didn't I?" He forced out._

"_I told you I'd protect you..." He barely managed to get out before the blue eyes rolled back as his eyelids shut, consciousness being claimed by exhaustion and fatigue and due to blood loss._

_The promise...The hands of time stilled._

_The girl lost almost every sense. Her hearing narrowed to her frantic heartbeat that was painfully beating against her ribs. Her sight was limited only to the figure of the boy with his head on her lap. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him repeatedly. She wanted to call out his name but her tongue wouldn't comply, either._

_She couldn't speak. She couldn't say anything._

_She couldn't hear. She didn't hear the warning shots fired by authorized policemen, the shouts of 'Shizouka Police!' and the collective authoritative commands of 'Freeze!'. Only the repeated thuds that seemed to echo in her ears._

_She couldn't feel anything. She was numb. She didn't feel the stinging sensation that stung her eyes. The few tears that rolled down her cheek as the breeze hit her face._

_The poker face she had so long ago perfected slipped off without any effort of resistance._

_The girl just helplessly kept shaking the boy's shoulder. Sense of time faded completely until she felt a hand landing on her shoulder from behind. A stiff and wary hand of a police officer. That's when the girl regained her bearings as if time flowed over her like water, once again, with her senses kicking back. Her lips parted, her tongue moved to call out the name of the unconscious boy._

* * *

Shiho bolted up-right in her bed, her sudden movement flinging the blanket covering her body to the side. A painful scream clogged her throat that tried to rip it's way out but she bit her lower lip and forced it back down. Her face was covered in cold sweat, hair mused up slightly, breath coming out in rapid short gasps as she stared wide-eyed for a moment. The ambient from the dream seemed to remain realistic in her ear and her body tensed automatically.

Without moving, her eyes darted around taking in her surroundings trying to catch a trend of reality. The familiarity of the four walls seemed to sooth her insecurity and she relaxed, albeit just a little bit. Propping an elbow on her raised knee, Shiho rested her forehead against her slightly sweaty open palm and shut her eyes. Images from her dreams flashed to the forefront of her mind's eye and immediately she forced her eyes open in a flash.

If only she had listened to him for once... He had predicted it was a trap and told her to stay back.

But hell, she just had to go against it and tailed him. It wasn't something of a norm to her. Why would she care about him...?

Whether it be from that moment or somewhere along, she realized she was changing slightly. The secure walls were being torn down without her noticing... It was pathetic, she would think, to allow her emotions to surge like that even once. But in actuality, it was for the second time now.

And in his presence.

Shiho felt as though the earth's axis had tilted. She feared feelings and connectivity to people. She was unwilling to accept people into her life fearing they would, as always, become target boards. But to think that he managed to get close and break through her almost 'touch-me-not' exterior. She was frightened of change, of these foreign feelings. Everything that she successfully erected around herself was being shattered like a fragile glass prison. And she getting too close to him.

She was getting too close to a light that she tried to ignore, a light that was just warm yet managed to thaw her heart and those frozen suppressed feelings.

And why did he risk himself to save her in the first place? It's not like he owed her anything. Not at all. Her mind circled around that more than once. She couldn't understand his intent at that moment. Doesn't he value his life? What if he had died? She knew she couldn't allow that. She kept going in circles, but as in with the figure, the end was always the starting point.

The antidote. She held the cure and potency of creating one. And she owed him that much at the very least. She promised herself to come up with it, if not for her and his sake, then for redemption however unacknowledged it would be. After all, that was why she stayed back at Beika, for all intents and purposes.

And...

With one fluid motion, Shiho jumped out of bed and headed for the door. 'Stop...' The thought kept ringing in her head.

Shiho spared a glance at herself at the wardrobe mirror. Her clothes looked like a mess in her state but she didn't bother much with it. With a single attempt of smoothing them out which didn't do much, she stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. Just before she could turn towards the staircase to head downstairs, her eyes caught sight of a faded yellow hue disappearing behind a corner in the opposite direction.

* * *

Shinichi stood by the railing of the veranda of the house that overlooked the street. His neck was stiff, thanks to a night spent on the couch but the dull throbbing pain would fade eventually. He just basked in the morning air that blew across his face, as it swiped his bangs out of his eyes. Taking a few deep breathes, he shut his eyes and let himself loose, leaning against the concrete railing. He could feel his tense body relax quickly as his tongue rolled a refreshing mint drop around in his mouth.

His keen senses broke his stupor-like state, as his eyes darted to the corner, under his eyelids and he stilled his breathing. Training his senses to other areas, he listened.

"So, you've woken up..." Shinichi heard a soft voice over the stealthy footsteps.

Shiho.

"Yesterday's heat wore you out?" There was a hint of a smirk this time, a taunting tone, in her voice.

He let out a scoff. "Well, you could've generously woken me up if you're that worried." Shinichi replied with an air of cockiness. Sending her a smirk of his own over his shoulder, he continued. "But then again, why bother with me, right?" He tossed a packet of the mint drops in her direction as he finished.

Blinking at the pack that she caught with her left hand, she non-chalantly popped out a piece into her mouth.

"No." Shiho crossed her arms and looked at him with a straight face. "I wouldn't - especially with someone who chose to crash at someone else's home just for the sake of it."

'Hey, hey...' Shinichi's eyebrow twitched comically as he hunched over slightly. Recovering not a moment later, he turned around to face her.

"How are you doing?" He asked. "Your fever, I mean. Shouldn't you be resting?" He added as an after thought.

"I've faced worse than a mild cold, Kudo." She replied shortly. "What are you doing up so early, anyway?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Shinichi replied flashing his wristwatch , the digital figures reading 5:39am, as he passed her by on his way as he moved over to the bench kept on the spacious balcony. Plopping down on the bench, he turned his head to look at her.

Shiho shrugged a shoulder into a half-shrug.

Shinichi met her eyes and for the first time that morning, he looked at her properly. Two months had whizzed by since Shiho popped back in unannounced. To his surprise, four months apart didn't seem to have any impact. They treated each other the same as ever, as in the days when they were shrunk, after her first day in Teitan High. Suffice to say, the moment Professor Agasa found out that Shiho was in town, he literally tracked her down and convinced her to stay with him again.

Shiho accepted with her usual non-chalant mannerism but he could read between the lines that she wanted to stay. After all, the Professor was like a father figure to her. The one who took her in when she collapsed in front of the Kudo Residence. He was also certain that the old scientist with the knack for a crazy inventions saw her as a grand daughter he never had. And with that, everything reverted back to old days.

Professor Agasa would constantly think of weird inventions and develop video games, that the Detective Boys would test out whenever they came over to visit. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta still ran their little group despite the absence of Conan and Ai.

Shiho would sometimes help the old scientist out and as always, with some nagging, force him into a healthy diet in an effort to try reduce his weight and put him in a better shape. Shinichi would come along and visit the Agasa Residence almost everyday since he practically lived all by himself in his home next door, with next to no company besides his collection of detective novels and other books in the library. Somehow, he was becoming to think of this house as a second home to himself. Ran would join them on weekends and, if it permits, during school days.

Breaking away from his musing for a moment, he noticed Shiho's hair was extra-ordinarily red than normal, the locks flitting around her face in the morning breeze as she looked at him. His eyes drifted away from her face and out to the horizon and distant sky that peaked over the numerous roofs lining his view. A crimson orange figure glowed with radiant light staining the dark blue daybreak sky with red and orange.

"Sun rise..." He pointed out quietly as he nodded towards the horizon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shiho glance at the direction he was looking at.

"What's so great about it?" He heard her ask, as she turned back to him.

"What do you mean?" He asked while raising a slightly amused eyebrow.

Looking back out into the distance, her eyes swept over the house rooftops and the streets in between, watching as the sunlight slithered its way across, illuminating the previously dark recesses and alleyways. Those secluded spots of the city, away from prying eyes of man.

"Don't you think it's unfair sometimes?" Shiho asked. "To people who prefer to be left unseen. Sunlight is just a bane that breaks them away from what they want."

"Sunlight and sun rise are a chance." Shinichi replied, almost right after she finished.

Shiho glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes with a strange look.

"You know, if a person sees a rising sun, what do you think they are thinking of it?"

"How would I know?"

He ignored the bored tone in her voice. "Something along the lines of 'It's beautiful'." Looking up, he fixed her with a grin. "But do you know what they see in that glowing mass?"

Shiho remained silent, slightly intrigued.

"Hope." He stated simply. "That's why it 'rises' to give people another chance. You might never know that you missed something with the previous sunrise." Leaning back in his seat he continued. "That something is what you might see when you open your eyes the next day." Looking back out at the sun, he leaned forward as the grin dissolved into a soft smile.

Shiho smiled inwardly hiding it behind an amused expression. Him and his optimistic personality. She wondered how he could think of something so cheesy yet make it sound... kind of mature. He was just a complete opposite of her personality. She often thought darkly of such things, yet he would intensify that dim light whenever he spoke. She had learned to not trust in such abstract and ambiguous things. And if she was to be honest with herself, she was still hesitating to let go of those principles.

Out of his peripheral vision, Shinichi noticed Shiho's slightly silhouetted figure in red move towards him and he wordlessly, scooted away to make space on the bench. He felt more than see her sit down. His eyes never left the sun in the distance, and the two slipped into a rare relaxed silence.

He just found himself admiring the sun. Amidst the haze, his mind wandered back to the events of last month. A life without that manic organization trying to hunt them down was definitely something he appreciated now. Nothing seems to be demanding anymore. With nearly no pressure from anywhere, he saw the dawn of a normal life once again at the core of the blazing figure that was slowly casting it's golden veil on the city.

As seconds turned into minutes gradually, he found his eyelids drooping and himself nodding off to sleep. He almost choked on the sweet and instantly crushed it between his teeth like chewing an ice cube, as he leaned back and mentally shook himself awake.

"Hey, did the professor take a look at the tracking glasses?" His voice was low and husky as he spoke. It was one reason why Shinichi was here yesterday.

Before he could expect an answer back, he felt his friend's head drop on his shoulder. Startled at the shift of weight, he cast a quick glance towards Shiho and kept his eyes on her face suspiciously. He thought of shaking her to wake her up, but when he noticed her soft and steady breathing, he stopped.

The chemist might have been a natural actress - he didn't doubt that - but however hard she would try, she would never enact sleep perfectly. He had busted her himself several times.

She had really fallen asleep.

'Are you serious...?' He thought with an amused look on his face.

He wasn't surprised, though. A cold in summer is always the worst thing to put up with. Without thinking, his hand moved to softly swipe the golden tinted bangs out of the way of her eyes. With her face up so close, he found himself staring at flashing images from his dream. They were as clear as they could get, as if they were burnt into his memory and he wished they weren't.

_'As a detective, I can't allow any deaths.'_

It was just like himself.

That's what he had told her after she had woken up in a private clinic, after the surgery. But it was even before that, that he knew he didn't see the situation as he made it sound to be. No, he didn't want to see her hurt again. Not as a detective and not as a partner but as a friend. That was the moment when he accepted her as a fellow victim. He wondered what was the chance that two of them - with a seemingly impossible case of being shrunk – could have met?

Definitely next to none...

Shinichi suppressed a yawn as his face scrunched up. His eyes did not leave her closed eye lids.

Once again he felt his consciousness drifting, trying to slip away. No choice, he supposed. He didn't want to wake her either, so with a half-shrug he leaned his head back a little and closed his eyes.

With the morning breeze that played with his hair, the soft breaths of fresh mint that tickled his neck, the warmth from the body next to him and the sunshine that was brightening up progressively, he left for dreamland.

'I'll be blaming you for the stiff neck when I wake up...' was his last thought with a silent chuckle. 'Shiho...'

_*Falling slowly*  
-*Eyes that know me*-  
-*And I can't go back*-_

* * *

A slightly sleepy old scientist with gray hair walked through the living room not noticing a pair of glasses laid out at the coffee table, his hand clapped over his mouth hiding a yawn.

"Ai-kun" He called out but was met with silence. Glancing out of the nearby window, he saw that it was a clear day. He could hear the birds and summer insects chirp along with the peacefully rustling of green leaves. It momentarily distracted him as he stopped for a moment to admire the environment. The lawn on his house and tree leaves looked much greenier than normal.

'Where is she?' The scientist, Hiroshi Agasa thought. It wasn't as if she had disappeared again; he was pretty sure she wouldn't.

Checking up at her room, he found the bed slightly creased and the blanket thrown aside.

'Did her fever get worse?' He thought worriedly.

Shutting the door, he cast a look at the living room from the second floor banister but found no one. His head turned towards the parted balcony doors at the end of the hall in the opposite direction and spotted a familiar lavender piece of cloth peaking around the corner.

'Ah!' He thought in triumph as he moved. She was probably admiring the clear day, taking a breath of fresh air.

"Ai-kun! Good-" He started jubilantly but was stopped as soon as he passed through the door, at the sight that greeted him.

And it was how he had found them. Shiho in her sleeveless lavender blouse and plain milky beige shorts, and Shinichi in his faded yellow shirt and slacks. The both of them sleeping peacefully, the strawberry blonde's head resting on the raven-haired detective's shoulder.

The sight brought a soft smile on the professor's face, his mustache twitching slightly. It was such a warm sight. His best friends asleep, he turned around and walked the way he came from. He didn't have the heart to wake them up, even though it was already past ten in the morning.

Soft laughter hummed at the back of his throat. Looks like he would have to order take-out food for lunch with not much time left to prepare the meal.

But that didn't matter.

* * *

A/N: Alrighty. Another segment up and done with. Just a thought, but I think Agasa would personally think of both Shinichi and Shiho as best friends in his life. Shiho, as Ai, might view him as a father figure and I'm sure he wouldn't have any problem. But that's just my two-cents. Also, I hope you didn't find that 'sun-rise' scene cheesy and a bit cliche. I know it wasn't too orginial to incorporate a talk about hope with sun-rise but I hope your view shifts. (Hope... sounding like a broken record, ftw?)

Also, I never meant to portray Shinichi as a 'Gary-Stu' so don't take it that way. In my defense, I would say it was his knack for trying to save people. The first dream sequence was inspired by the Haido City Hotel case, which I've tried to tamper with. xD

I hope you guys aren't being scared off with my slightly lengthy (?) updates. I do know that most people prefer to read shorter ones but I hold on to making it a point of not writing anything less than 2,000 words. (At least I try to)

The centralized bit are lyrics from the song **_'Falling Slowly' _**by _Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova_, to those who are wondering. (Me no own xD)

Either way, just another slice from their lives, I suppose... I'll be leaving now with my ramblings. For once, I'd like to know what you think of the fic, as whole, up 'til this point - although it's only three chapters. So please, leave a review! :D

Thanks!


	4. Segment IV: Autumnal Melancholy I

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. Everything belongs to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

The dull whirring sound of the air conditioner drifted into his senses followed by far-away chatter. First, he noticed that his vision was black. His sense of touch kicked in next as he felt his forehead was against a smooth material of what he could only say a jacket or a blazer. His sense of hearing amplified and the chatter seemed to pick up several octaves in loudness. His eyelids parted open and he came face to face with the smooth surface of a desk.

Shinichi raised his head off the table. Sitting back in his seat, he looked around himself while rubbing his eyes drowsily. He definitely felt more in the pink ever since morning. The familiar white board that was on the wall in front of him, and familiar chart boards to his right told him he was in class 3-E of Teitan High.

"That exam sure was tough..." The detective heard someone groan from behind him. It was followed by several other similar noises, most likely in agreement.

That's right... Exams. Second term was coming to an end soon and it was finals at the moment.

Although on second thought, he wouldn't agree with those whining students at the back. He turned to cast a silent smirk at the group of slackers. With that motion, he caught sight of two of his friends.

The first he could make out was a girl with strawberry blonde hair, a few seats behind him, who had her face buried in her crossed arms on the desk, seemingly asleep – just like he had been a few moments ago. Turning his eyes towards the other figure, he spotted a dark-brown haired girl twirling her pen idly between her fingers and staring at the desk with a helplessly bored expression. As if on cue, said girl looked up and met his eyes. A smile curved her lips.

"Shinichi!" She said brightly as she jumped up from her seat.

"Ran." He returned it with his own as he got up. "How did you fair?"

Ran grinned at him. "A breeze."

He definitely agreed with her. After all, he knew he wasn't the only one that had to sleep away half of the duration of the exam, stuck in their seats with nothing to do, after finishing off the paper. He grinned back as he stretched.

"Let's get something at the cafeteria. Wake Miyano-san up and let's be on our way." Ran suggested.

That sounded appetizing the moment it reached his ears. Turning over to his other friend's spot he called out.

"Miyano." He refrained from calling her 'Haibara' in front of Ran. The strawberry blonde stirred slightly but did not wake.

Frowning, he moved towards her desk, stopping just at the edge to look down over Shiho's figure, Ran right at his side. A smirk enveloped his face as he dropped his bag on floor.

"Up up, sleepyhead." Shinichi said tauntingly and without missing a beat, he dunked Shiho's head further into her arms.

That jerked the girl awake. Letting out a low growl, she looked up with a disgruntled and displeased look only to be met the smirking face of Shinichi in front of her desk. On her part, she never had anyone wake her up like that. And so with a fluid motion, she swung a foot under the desk, kicking the detective right at shin.

Shinichi hopped away immediately, crashing against a chair that added to the already dull throbbing pain in his leg. An annoyed frown displaced the smirk on his face as looked at Shiho.

"You could have just stepped on my toe." He offered sarcastically as he bent over and rubbed the sore spot. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Ran looking at him strangely. Shiho could cause damage to him more than intended, he would think.

Shiho just shrugged, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

A soft laughter sounded from Ran at the antics of the two. "Let's get going, you two."

"Fine..." Shinichi grumbled as he picked up his bag.

"Well well..." Shinichi heard a voice drawl from behind him as he stood up straight. "Detective-turned-playboy... How are ya doing?" Several laughter from the group of boys and girls echoed in the room.

Turning around, he was met with a grinning face of a fellow classmate. From the girl's expression, he knew she was only joking around and trying to mess with him – tension from the exams have to relieved somehow.

It still didn't mean that he liked the comment, though.

"Shove it, Satonaka-san." He replied.

"Hey, you better decide which one of them you'll pick." The girl that he called Satonaka said in a seemingly conspiratorial whisper but with an intended loudness so everyone could hear, as she leaned closer to Shinichi, ignoring his previous comment.

Shinichi scowled silently. To his right, Shiho just stared at the girl blankly while Ran seemed a little surprised.

None of the trio replied to the comment and Satonaka sweat dropped comically.

"Eh... Forget I said anything." She waved a nervous hand dismissing it lightly and the group behind her laughed, much to her chagrin.

Shinichi sighed. "Detective-turned-playboy..." He muttered under his breath sarcastically as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder. "Let's get going." He suggested this time, with a yawn.

The three slipped out of the now-laughing students of the classroom, cutting off the trail of loud laughter as they slid the door shut behind them. It was past noon time and normal recess period for school days but it, being exam days, was pretty much a vacant day for whomever did not have any tests to attend. The corridors and halls of the building were abuzz with students chatting and roaming around idly, probably waiting for other friends to finish up their exams.

Looking back at the classroom, he caught the eyes Ran and Shiho, as the former smiled at him. That classroom was the last one they would enter for the term, before a short break. He just felt that the last exam had practically saved him from anymore cases of trying to fight boredom by sleeping in his seat. At least, that was over with.

Now hopefully, he could find something to do when school's out...

* * *

Shinichi stirred his drink with a straw, a bored expression on face, the clinking of ice cubes against his cup being drowned out by loud chatter. Looking around, he could see he was in the middle of a sea of blue. The familiar aroma of food told him that he was in a packed cafeteria. Each and every stall and table were occupied. Ran who was beside him, scrunched up a sandwich paper wrap as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. Shiho, who sat from across them, was idly finishing her drink. The three of them had just finished discussing exam matters and were now silently resting, enjoying the aftermath of a tense week.

"Hey, do you have anything to do later?" He asked them both, suddenly, casting each of them a glance. The usual shrug from Shiho and the shake of her head from Ran that he both took as a 'no', were his reply.

"That's great." He grinned. "Why not watch the football match?"

"Match?" Ran asked.

"Yeah" Shinichi nodded. "The football club had arranged one to start at 2:30 this afternoon just after the third year students' exams. I've decided to join in, for old time sake."

"Oh, I get it." He heard Shiho's voice as she spoke into the cup to her lips. "Sounds like you're trying to impress your fan club." Lowering it, she revealed the smirk.

"Are you sure you're sane today?" Shinichi replied sarcastically with a question.

"Much more saner than I've been." Shiho made a shooing motion with her hand as if to dismiss the subject and simply went back to her drink.

Shinichi shrugged and turned to Ran as he stood up. "Well, better be there soon. I need to get ready."

Shiho opened mouth to protest.

'I'll pass' That's what she had wanted to say but before she could form a word, Shinichi was already up and jogging towards the exit, bag slung over a shoulder. She watched him with a frown but she supposed she didn't have anything better to do at Agasa's, either. Watching the match and trying to relax for once might do her good. Looking down at her wristwatch, it told her that a little over twenty minutes were left until the scheduled time for the launch of the match.

Standing up after Ran, she followed the long haired girl through the hallways and out to the open field.

* * *

Several voices of people – some she knew and some she did not – merged together among the screams and shouts, cheering for either of the opposing teams on the field. Some were sitting on the grass, some standing on their feet pumping their fists in a rhythm to their cheering and of course, the field was not devoid of some squealing, on the girls behalf. Overall, whichever angle a person would take to look at the situation, it had a light and happy aura accompanied with soaring laughter coming from every direction.

"Nice shot, Kudo!"

Ran looked over at a group of students to her right, who jumped up to their feet and started cheering collectively at a deafening volume.

Looking back out at the field, a smile enveloped her face as she spotted the familiar figure of Shinichi, in his light green jersey and contrasting dark green shorts, run across the field back over to his team's side. He cast a look over his shoulder at the opposing team's goalkeeper, who kept hammering his fist into the ground in frustration. Shinichi had just scored a third goal for his team. She could practically imagine the triumphant smirk on his face as he looked at the opposition's goalkeeper.

"He's pretty good."

Ran turned towards the source of the voice to find her strawberry blonde companion sitting by her left, looking out at the field. Even the seemingly emotionless girl couldn't contain a smile that made her lips twitch slightly.

"Yes, I agree." Ran replied to Shiho's comment. "He used to be in the school team up until our first year in high. He quit at the start of second year." Ran let out a laugh. "You'd think the captain would take it as bad as he did when Shinichi asked to be taken off the roster."

Shiho turned to Ran, giving off a slightly restrained smile. She didn't know that. It wasn't because she didn't wish to find out but because she didn't know how to ask of such trivial things. Turning back to look out at the field, she spotted Shinichi at his assigned spot as a center-midfielder. The chants of 'Kudo! Kudo!' seem to reach him for a moment as Shinichi looked about at the audience for a brief second with a smirk before focusing back on the game. It was as if the match was the only thing that mattered to him and nothing else.

"He seems pretty free on that field..." Shiho whispered with some sort of admiration that she haven't realized would slip into her voice.

Ran glanced back at her, about to say something but then stopped. There was a slightly sad look on her face that peeked out under the smile. What was that...?

Suddenly, Ran found herself staring at the figure of a small girl that resembled Shiho, but with a blink of an eye, the figure was displaced. Her curiosity towards Shiho came rushing back unexpectedly, all of a sudden.

It can't be just a coincidence, can it? Siblings or relatives who share almost the exact same expressions and behavior. She didn't believe that. Make no mistake, Ran had tried to approach Shiho ever since the beginning of the school year. She had noticed the way she would act and behave in class – it was just like that little girl, Ai. She had tried, but the girl was practically unreachable. If it wasn't for Shinichi who seemed to be gluing the three of them together, she didn't know if she would be in the girl's company at the moment.

She would only talk when talked to and reply when asked.

"Hey, Miyano-san..." Ran started. There was a short humming sound from Shiho that she took as a sign of permission. The cheering and voices all around seemed to be distancing themselves away from her until it was some sort of a dull chirping sound.

Whether it was a good idea or not, she wasn't sure but before she could decide, the words flew out of her mouth.

"Do you know anyone by the name Conan Edogawa...?" Hesitance was evident in Ran's almost silent timid voice.

Shiho felt as if a strong jolt of electricity ran through her body. Her shoulder stiffened and her jaw clenched. Whatever question she had been expecting from Ran was definitely nothing to do with a certain Edogawa. She bowed her head silently.

Ran observed Shiho for a moment. From the flash of reaction on the other girl's behalf, she could tell that she chose the right name to ask of. She thought of asking about Ai Haibara but that question could easily be brushed off with a reply of 'Yes, she's my sister' or 'Yes, she's a distant relative of mine'. But hadn't Shinichi already told her that Shiho was one of the people he worked along side with in taking down that syndicate? It would only make sense that the strawberry blonde was, at one point, the Ai Haibara she had known if she had known a person called Conan Edogawa here in Tokyo.

And her reaction seemed to point to acknowledgment, however surprised it seemed to be.

Shiho raised her head and shot a cold look towards Ran. She didn't mean to respond as such – it was her nature of trying to stay secure and collected. Her eyes prodded the younger girl's face as if searching for something. And finally she smirked coolly.

"Finally caught on, have you Mouri-san?" Shiho replied with a question of her own. "Kudo's observational skills must be rubbing off on you."

Ran blushed slightly but remained silent. Either Shiho knew what she had wanted to ask from the very beginning or she was good in observing the subtlety behind people's actions. Ran hadn't even thought of asking her if she was Ai Haibara straight out, although she knew it would have sounded stupid, if she were to do that.

"In regards to the question..." Shiho's voice tightened with security again. She had intended that to shoot her down with a provocative 'Why should I tell you, anyway?'.

But...

"Yes, I know him."

She wasn't sure Ran would be the best person that would be able to understand what she felt. She didn't know what drove her to answer truthfully.

Maybe it was because of how Ran resembled her sister, Akemi.

Or maybe the kind, gentle and understanding aura that she carried, which also reminded her of Akemi.

Maybe it was the way the girl would try to approach such sensitive things. She felt some kind of connection with Ran although she never tried to acknowledge it. The kind of a connection she had had with her sister.

Was that enough to trust in her though...?

'Who am I fooling...?' The pessimistic side of her would think whenever that thought came to her mind. No one could replace Akemi. There was only one Akemi Miyano and only one Ran Mouri. And simple logic told her that the two were different people despite the resemblance in appearance and the feeling they radiated in their presence.

One thing is for sure, she wasn't talking to her sister. The question was could she trust her?

Or maybe it was just a desperate attempt to let it all out...

In the end, one thing would always come to mind. Ran deserved to know. Shiho owed the girl that much at least. And so, she told Ran her side of the story.

Whether she would be grateful or regretful of such an action, she didn't know yet again. She just said her piece of how she had worked with the agencies and Shinichi in taking down the syndicate and a few events that happened before that when she was among the Black Organization ranks.

Although, maybe she would say she was grateful because she did not delve too deep into incidents and certain moments – she just said them as they came to mind. Emotionless as always as if skimming over details.

Who would want to hear the things that she left out, either way? No one would be interested in lending an ear to her problems.

To them, it probably would be something unnecessary to hear about, but to her she would rather not say anything and keep them to herself. The moments which seemed to drag her feet under, the moments where she was helpless and pained and the moments which, albeit very rare, were the ones during which she felt unrestrained and free.

Moments she had shared him. The person whom she stuck with by his side through to the end... or was it him who stuck by her side?

Out in the distance, she heard a prolonged whistle that seem to reverberate in the air. The cheering which was growing progressively louder reached her ear, and Shiho suddenly blinked, as if coming out of a haze. Looking up, she could see a group of football players in green attire hoist another fellow teammate on their shoulder to the chants of 'Kudo! Kudo!'.

_Him_.

Glancing down at her watch, it told her that it was 3:30 in the afternoon. The match was intended to be a short forty-five minutes long, but it seemed to have taken a little extra time over the set limit. An hour had already passed by and she hadn't even noticed. Was this how normality is like?

Ran stared at Shiho for what felt like hours. So, she was Ai Haibara, that little girl who went to Teitan Elementary School, the girl that was part of the Detective Boys not more than a year ago. Just a year ago...

She always noticed Ai was distant to people, always very quiet. To be honest, she was playing with the idea that the girl's young age was a lie in contrast to her appearance and looks like she wasn't far off. She never thought that there was another person in a similar predicament of what Shinichi had faced.

_'My parents were killed one night while driving back... I was barely a year old.'_

_'My sister was killed. I'm sure you do know someone by the name Masami Hirota connected to the one billion yen heist, right? That was her.'_

_'They decided to come after soon after I escaped from them. A traitor they labeled me as such.'_

Ran felt an involuntary shudder run down her spine at the icy cold monotonous voice she spoke with. As if she was devoid of any happiness.

'How can she say such things so... bluntly?' She wondered how her psychological condition could take the loss of her entire family to a single organization that she used to be part of, and yet speak of it like it was something of a daily routine.

Was the organization that disgustingly horrible that it stoned each of it's members hearts?

Shinichi told her of it's cruel ways of conduct. But to make people devoid of feeling any emotion at all was... - she didn't know how to describe it as. Many thoughts circled around in her head, making her feel lightheaded, yet she still couldn't understand.

There was one more question she needed to ask.

"Miyano-san...? Who was the inventor of that 'apple-toxin' drug that shrunk Shinichi?"

It was just plain curiosity – an innocent and curious question. But it was one thing Shiho did not expect to hear from Ran at all. She would have laughed at the name by which the drug was called if it wasn't for the question. The question that struck a chord in her heart – the chord of guilt. Had Shinichi never told her a thing about Haibara or Sherry...?

She hated him now... She hated him but she also felt grateful to him at the same time. Something she didn't know that was even possible. She hated him because she now had to reveal the fact – the truth behind their condition and also reveal herself as the one responsible, the one who separated Ran and Shinichi from each other. She hated him because she was being forced to say the truth however much she desired it to be hidden from everyone else. Wouldn't it have been better if Ran had known so she wouldn't be beating around the bush for reasons and just hate her completely?

Nevertheless, she also felt grateful. She felt grateful that Shinichi had kept her secrets that she confided in him. Even from his childhood friend that he pined for ever since she met him. He would never know how much that action meant to her.

'She has the right to know.'

Shiho fisted a hand in the grass and she bowed her again, hiding her face behind the curtain of reddish-blonde.

"I..."

Ran's body tensed in anticipation. Whatever she was about to be told was something she wouldn't like, she was sure. She trained her eyes on Shiho as if urging her to go on and stop leaving her hanging with that mysterious aura that she radiates.

"Hey, you guys!" A voice broke through Ran's haze of thoughts and suddenly, she was aware of where she was - the surroundings and the voice and sounds.

Glancing sideways, she spotted Shinichi jogging away from the gym and his teammates, and heading towards her and Shiho's spot on the green slope overlooking the field. Out of his football jersey and shorts and back into his school uniform, she could see that his hair was slightly wet and unruly fresh out of the shower, the unbuttoned blue blazer trailing behind him in the air as he ran over to them. The refreshed grin on his face told her that he was completely oblivious to the exchange between herself and Shiho.

All of a sudden, she was torn between wanting to learn more about Shiho and wanting to greet Shinichi, the latter being the way to effectively wave off the question. Awkwardly, she looked between the two. What was she to do? One was staring at the ground as if she was hypnotized by something and the other was running towards them with a grin on his face.

"Hey, what's with the gloomy faces?" Shinichi snorted out jokingly as he came to a stop by their side.

"Huh?" Ran started with an unintended presence of surprise in her voice. "N-No, Shinichi... It's-"

"It's your observational skills that I think are going haywire, detective." Shiho interjected.

"Geez, cut me some slack." Shinichi huffed simply with a mock-offended look.

"You never know..." Shiho replied blankly. Standing up, she strapped her bag on to her shoulder and moved to walk away. She didn't know if Shinichi's timely intervention is something she should be grateful for or yet another reason she would add to her book.

Shinichi scratched the back of his head with a disgruntled look on his face, silently cursing the shift of his refreshed mood. What the hell just happened? The absence of a taunting tone in Shiho's voice with her last comment tipped him off.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ran looking at the retreating back of Shiho with a strange look of sympathy. "Ran?"

No response.

"Ran." He called out firmly.

The girl turned to him blinking away a startled expression.

Shinichi looked at his friend with a suspicious look. "Are you two hiding something...?"

Ran shook her head 'no' gently. "Let's get going, Shinichi." And with that she took off after the strawberry blonde, with an attempt to avoid his prying eyes.

The detective frowned. Something's happened, and he just hoped it wasn't what he was thinking.

Looking up skyward, he noticed the gray clouds that roamed the sky, shutting out the afternoon sunlight. He mentally groaned. A short burst of gusty wind blew around him and from the temperature, he was sure it was going to be pouring down in buckets soon. The rainy season was approaching fast, it seems. Shinichi made to follow after Ran and Shiho silently.

A single dried brown leaf fell from the branch of the tree by the school walls. The lone leaf seemed to drift in the air gently, as if it was trying to stay afloat and away from the ground. Just a few inches before it lands on the grass, the wind picked up once again and with it, the leaf as it was granted its wish. Weaving about just above the grass, like a person among a crowd of people, it was only for a few seconds before a shoe-cladded foot stepped on it and crushed it into the ground with a barely audible crunch.

All that was left behind on the soil and green grass were black fragments of what used to be a leaf that was barely recognizable. Like a piece of glass that was shattered into smaller shards that could not be pasted back together.

And just like that, it was forgotten.

* * *

A/N: I have to say, this one took a toll on me. I had a few difficulties writing this one. I've made several drafts tweaking the scenes here and there, trying to make it flow... right, I think (?) but it didn't seem right to me. *sweatdrop* (I'm not making sense, am I? .)

Anyway, I've got nothing to say about this one. To those who reviewed the last chapter, I thank you. I'm hoping I did not disappoint with this.

Laters.


	5. Segment V: Autumnal Melancholy II

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. All characters belong to Gosho Aoyama. This work is the product of the author's imagination. Any and all similarities to real life situations are purely coincidental.

A/N: Here is part two of the Autumn segments. I know, I haven't mentioned with the previous update but I had been writing it behind the scenes. This one picks up right after they left the school grounds.

* * *

A lean teenager walked down the pavement, cap tipped over his eyes, hands in his dark green jacket pockets. Rounding a corner, he seemed to be lost in thought as he stared down at his feet while he walked around aimlessly.

A loud crash that echoed a few meters away seemed to break his train of silent thoughts, which was followed up by a moment of loud echoing tire screech of a vehicle. He snapped his head towards the direction only to find two speeding cars right after the other, the drivers losing control and heading off the road. He could see that the forefront car was about to crash into a lamp post, but that wasn't what worried him. He raised his head and his green eyes darted towards a woman in her mid-twenties that was about to the cross the street.

"Hey, get out of the way!" He shouted bloody murder and made for a quick dash towards her.

The woman seemed in shock. All she was capable of was stare in fear at the cars. Those two cars that were heading towards her.

It all happened too fast.

The brown paper bag the woman was holding landed on the road as she lost her grip on the article, the fear numbing her nerves.

There was a dull sickening thud followed by a cracking sound.

A loud crash remained suspended in the air.

The teen skidded into a halt, eyes widening as he stared at the ground for a moment. Slowly, he looked up giving a silent prayer to whomever was up there as his eyes fell on the chaotic scene.

It was quiet all around.

* * *

"Hey, nice match, Kudo!"

"Yeah, man. Nice to see you still got it."

"Haha, the opposing team didn't stand chance against you guys."

Comments and praises from boys and girls alike seemed to clog his ears for a moment and it was he could hear being tossed his way, left and right. Shinichi gritted his teeth at the racket the other students from his school seem to be raising around him. He almost popped a vein of irritation but instead, he just put up a fake welcoming smile on his face.

Even though, he felt like a fool doing that.

Weaving through the people who came towards him and side stepping around others, the trio finally reached the gate. The moment the praises subsided, he was aware of the silence that hung in the air between them. It was as though he was back in hot water again. His mind wandered back to the field.

"Hey..." He began at the precise moment at what sounded like police sirens echoed in the air. And sure enough, a single police car on patrol whizzed around a corner behind them. Shinichi's eyes fixated on it as he stared at the flashing sirens, following it until the vehicle disappeared around a corner near the far end of the street they walked on. The wailing persisted in his ear for a moment and he tried to shake it off.

None of the trio moved. Each of their eyes were on the bend that the car disappeared around.

Shinichi hesitated, but then his instincts took over right away. And with that abstract feeling, he darted forward not bothering to glance back nor did he hear Ran's voice calling out his name.

"He smells a case. You know he wouldn't listen, either way." The girl heard Shiho speak from beside her.

Surprised, she snapped her head towards Shiho. Unexpected relief seem to fill her at the sound of Shiho's voice. From the way their conversation was cut off by Shinichi earlier, she thought it would be a moment of slight tension between them.

"I suppose so..." Ran agreed uncertainly. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Shiho shrug then move to push past her.

A few steps away from the girl, Shiho stopped and turned her head to cast a backward glance at Ran. "Let's go. You wouldn't want to be caught in this rain now, would you?" She looked up at the sky momentarily before she resumed her trek.

Ran stared at Shiho again, in befuddlement. Her eyes trailed up skywards and she caught sight of the dark clouds moving over the capital. Better be off after Shinichi sooner than later, she would think, as she took off after Shiho who was already a few yards away. She already knew what had happened.

* * *

Shinichi rounded a final corner and came to the ninth intersection of Beika city, just in front of the Beika Public Library. He cast a once over at both sides of the road. On one side, it was pretty much empty, save for a few people whispering to one another behind raised hands. Looking at the other side, he could see a large crowd of people being pushed away by the policemen, who were restricting the area to authorized and paramedic personnel. He caught a glimpse of what looked like an aftermath of a car crash and tore off towards the scene.

"Detective Tagaki!" He called out as soon as he caught sight of the familiar officer in his usual gray suit and slacks.

"Ah, Kudo-san." Wataru Tagaki acknowledged the detective with a nod.

"What happened?" Shinichi jumped straight into the heart of the matter as he looked at the thrashed cars, against a leaning lamp post.

"Car crash. Can't you tell, Kudo?" A voice spoke up before Tagaki could muster the words to reply.

Shinichi blinked. 'Oh no, don't tell me...' Turning to the side, he rolled his eyes as he caught sight of the familiar detective.

"Hattori." Shinichi nodded at his western counterpart with a frown on his face.

Heiji Hattori, Detective of the West, pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and returned the flat greeting with a nod of his own, lips set in a straight line.

"Hattori-san was in the vicinity at the time the crash occurred." Tagaki pointed out instead, seeing Shinichi's answer was already given.

"Just what are doing in Tokyo?" Shinichi asked, his eyes narrowing slightly at Heiji.

Heiji blinked. "What? Can't I visit my Tokyo pals for a few days?"

Shinichi shook his head with a smirk. "I don't see a problem with that. But maybe you should have picked a better day to haul-"

"There were two casualties." Heiji cut him off with a frown of his own. "One dead and one in critical condition."

He looked over to the car that was up against the lamp post. A body was laid out near the white car covered in a blue cloth – the deceased. He didn't bother to point it out. "The other one was a pedestrian caught in the collision... A person at the wrong place in the wrong time. Maybe-"

Heiji halted as the familiar figure of Ran rounded the corner he was facing. The look that would always appear on his face as he investigates a crime scene slipped off for a minute. "Nee-chan." He greeted her with a slight grin as she approached the two of them.

Shinichi frowned at his friend for a moment. But he supposed Heiji learned a thing or two ever since. Unnoticed, Shinichi took their momentary distraction as a chance, tuned out of their conversation and slipped away from them, ignoring their exchange of greetings.

Casting a look in both directions the street ran in, Shinichi first decided to examine the crash site. Pulling out a conveniently stowed handkerchief in his pockets, he used it to the open the driver seats of both cars. Blood stained glass shards from the windshield of the first car caught his attention and he looked at them closely. Some pieces were stained with red around the edges. A short reflection of light caught his eye.

Looking down to the passenger seat next to him, he caught sight of what looked like a small marble. Using the handkerchief, he picked it up and held to eye level. It had a tint of dull golden color which shined as the light refracted through it.

'A brooch decoration crystal piece...' Shinichi concluded.

Looking down to inspect the car floor mats, his sight fell on an orange plastic bag. He undid the knot, revealing a pack of books stacked on one another. A piece of paper was jutting out of two different books. Pulling it out gently, he his eyes skimmed over the slip. It was the Public Library borrowing slip, detailing the books borrowed by one 'Souji Seta' and 'Fuuka Yamagishi'. The packs were set to be returned today before evening.

His eyes shifted over to the covered body and he drew the cloth back. The lifeless face of a pale woman around her late twenties, met his sight, her long raven-black hair matted on the ground. There was dried blood that was caked around the wound on the side of her forehead as the blood left a trail down the side of her face.

'Blunt trauma force from the collision.' He concluded as he stared at the face. He looked away, suddenly. It's been a while since he had seen a corpse.

Shinichi turned back to look at the white car that was up against the light pole thoughtfully.

"Take a look at the tire tracks on road." He heard a soft feminine voice and he cast a look over his shoulder to find Shiho beside him looking over at a particular spot. Following her eyes, his eyes landed on the set of tire tracks she mentioned. He looked at them for a moment, scrutinizing every inch, as his eyes narrowed at two particular sets. His eyes darted over towards the gray car that crashed into its white counter-part. Just as he was about to move towards it, a voice stopped him.

"This bottle was in the gray car, Kudo." Heiji voiced out as he approached the two, leaving Ran behind him with Detective Tagaki. He pulled out a plastic bag that held a small brown bottle. Through the transparency of the glass, Shinichi could make out a few pills that sat in a pile. "A bottle of suicide pills."

"Potassium Cyanide." Shiho concluded.

"Exactly." Heiji said. "300mg pills. Lethal doses to kill a person." He handed it over to Shiho, who took it with slight hesitance.

Shinichi stared at the bottle thoughtfully for a moment. "I think this is another murder case..." He mumbled. Looking up, he continued with a serious tone. "Hattori, you said that there were two casualties."

"Yeah" Heiji nodded. "From the looks of it, the second victim was an innocent bystander who just happens to be in the wrong place." The Kansai detective crossed his arms thoughtfully. " But then again, she might be an intended target, if what you had said is true..." He concluded slowly.

"I don't think it's just a coincidence." Shiho said quietly. Looking at the two teens in front of her, she frowned thoughtfully. "Don't you think it's strange that a bottle of Potassium Cyanide was present in that gray car?"

Shinichi nodded in agreement. "Plus there's the tire tracks left behind." He pointed to the black tracks left behind. "If-"

"I'm telling you, I lost control of the vehicle and crashed into that car." A slightly pale skinned skinny man in his early thirties said with a gruff tone. His head was wrapped in bandages, a small spot of the white gauze was stained red, from what Shinichi could see as he turned his attention towards the man.

The man's attire which consisted of a dark gray suit and slacks was in a mess, his neck tie hanging around his neck, untied. The dark brown eyes bore a slightly guarded glimmer as he stared up at the cop. One of his forearms were being tended to by a paramedic personnel, as the man spoke with the policeman amidst a questioning. "I lost consciousness due to the crash and when I came to, the paramedics were already tending to my wounds."

"Was he the only one to escape the crash with minor scathing?" Shinichi whispered to Heiji.

Heiji nodded. "There were only four of us on the street at the time the crash occurred." His eyes darted over to the man being questioned. "Souji Seta. 31 years old, resident of 5th Beika block 22nd street. He owns a small time company that deals with antiques over other things. They were planning to expand the line of the business and reach more popular areas around sometime this year. Seems like he's also a talented mechanic."

Glancing at the covered body on the side of the pavement, he continued. "The deceased Fuuka Yamagishi. 28 years old. She used to live with Seta-san until a few months ago. Probably a romantic relationship gone bad drove a wedge between the two. Now she lives in a hotel nearby."

"The other casualty didn't seem to have any familial nor relation tying the three together. Mitsuru Ishida. 24 years old. She lives at an apartment in Haido City with her husband, when she started working as a teacher at the Haido City Elementary School."

Heiji straightened up. "One thing that caught my attention was the two of them did not have their seat belts strapped on. That was according to Inspector Megure and that detective over there, anyhow." He nodded towards Tagaki who trying to hold off a crowd of people who persistently tried to take a peek on the scene.

'I see... So two of them have a reason to be on this street one way or another – Yamagishi-san and Seta-san.' Shinichi thought as his mind wandered back to the library slips. Looking up, he asked again. "Are there anymore suspects?"

The dark skinned detective shook his head. "No, besides us both, I-"

"Hattori-san" Said teen turned around at the call of his name. "I need to take your testimony on the matter, if you will." A police officer stood before him with a pen and a small notebook.

"Shoot" Heiji turned towards Shinichi with a chuckle. "Looks like I'm up. Seems like I'll be playing the role of a witness rather than a detective this time. Solve it, Kudo." Giving a short wave, he followed off after the officer.

"No sweat..." Shinichi whispered with a smirk as he looked at Heiji out of the corner of his eyes. It looks like he had caught up with the deductions.

Silence descended for a moment and every sound seemed to be fading into the background. Shinichi's piercing eyes sweeped over the whole vicinity for the first time since he stepped foot into the area. He could see yellow tapes barring off the large crowd and a few police officer stationed behind the suspended tape to halt any civilians who are curious enough to step into police business. He caught sight of Inspector Megure in his usual dull light orange coat and slacks giving orders to officers under his unit, his hardened facade on as always.

One of the crime scene investigators who was clutching a report in his gloved hand, stepped around a few of his comrades with an urgent look on his face, as he came to a stop in front of Megure. "Sir. We've received the report from the car inspections."

Megure nodded his acknowledgment for the officer to go on.

"It seems both of the cars' breaks have not been tampered with. The both of them are in good condition. The engines of both cars are well kept as well." The officer paused for a slight moment as he read the next sentence. "But it seems the airbags of the white car did not trigger at the time of the collision due to some sort of failure. The same with the gray one, sir."

"I see..." Megure said contemplatively as he mulled over the report.

"Aside from that, Inspector, the white car which belongs to the deceased Yamagishi-san that has crashed into the lamp post has been brought for cleaning services and mechanical check up yesterday over to the car services shop. We've received a confirmation for it, sir."

Shinichi narrowed his eyes as he overheard the last part. He relaxed his grip on the handkerchief he held as he parted the material, revealing the small brooch decorative crystal piece. Everything fell into place in his mind as he solved it. Raising his head, his sight landed on Seta sitting on the entrance steps of Beika Library. Something caught his eye again. He looked at the article pinned to the man's chest and he frowned.

'This is too easy...' He was spotting one piece of evidence after another, it almost too easy. 'Unless...'

The detective felt the familiar feeling of a rush as the final piece pieced itself with the rest. 'Ah... I see it now. So that's your intention behind this.' he smirked.

"You got it." Shinichi heard Shiho's voice.

"Yep" he replied. "Definitely got it."

Shiho gazed at the side of his face then smirked. "I see. So, I wasn't the only one to think of it that way."

Shinichi scoffed and was about to reply but was cut short.

"Alright then, we'll continue this at the station. We are restricting the entrance to the library. We can-"

"Hold on, Inspector." Shinichi butted in suddenly.

"Hm?" Megure grunted with slight annoyance as turned towards the voice. "Ah, Kudo-kun!" The tone immediately shifted as he caught sight of Shinichi.

"Long time no see, Inspector." Shinichi nodded a quick greeting. "But let's cut to the chase quickly."

Megure blinked at him silently.

"This is an amateur and simple murder case." He declared confidently.

"What?" Megure questioned him with a slightly surprised tone.

"Look around you." Shinichi flung his arms to the side. "You'd find evidence scattered around in plain sight."

"Well, whose the murderer?" Megure asked again this time, with a skeptical tone. His voice was suddenly heard very clearly, as the crowd around the scene quieted down.

"Who else other than the only suspect?" Shinichi intentionally stalled with a smirk. His eyes turned over to Seta who looking was at him with narrowed eyes. "I can't think of anyone but Seta-san here."

The moment he said that, every head and every pair of eye turned towards the accused young man. Some people bearing a look of surprise, some were confused and befuddled and a few were shooting him looks and glares of disgust.

Shinichi slid his hands into his pockets in his usual stance whenever he showed off his deduction. "There was never any 'loss-of-control' behind this now, is there?" He turned to face Megure and continued. "Let's take those tire tracks found on the road, first. If you'd look closely, you'd find small shreds of black rubber which, as you'd think, probably peeled off from the tire. One would think how fast the vehicle's speed was topping at that moment."

"We assume he tried to use the breaks but hadn't had the enough time needed to completely stop the car." Megure said as he glanced over to the tire tracks. "Applying a sudden brake would pressure the tire to try and stop quickly, and so it would leave the tracks behind."

"That's true, but do think that it is the same possibility in this case?" Shinichi countered.

Megure looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Those two sets of tire tracks are what stands out among the rest." Shinichi pointed over to two tracks that was separated by a blank and clean gap.

"Your point?"

"The gap makes you wonder, officer. Had he used the breaks, it would be a long and uninterrupted trail." Shiho picked up suddenly. "There is only one explanation to this type of scenario." The girl held up a firm finger as she stepped up beside Shinichi, as her eyes darted over to the accused. "Seta-san had intentionally rammed Yamagishi-san's car multiple times and not just because of losing control over his vehicle."

"How do you explain it?" Megure squared his shoulder as he looked the stranger he was meeting for the first time. He had a slightly suspicious look on his face as he looked at Shiho.

"Simple. In the Physics field of Science, Newton's Third Law of Motion states that whenever a body exerts force on another it experiences an equal force in magnitude exerted by the second body in the opposite direction." Shiho crossed her arms briefly.

"Apply it to this scenario and everything would make sense. Seta-san rammed Yamagishi-san's car twice causing her to crash into the light pole. The first time he rammed her car, the force would propel her car forward but also at the same time, his car would experience the same magnitude in the opposite direction."

"Now, the tires of his car would be trying to move forward, as proved by the First Law of Motion. But aside from those, the whole weight of the car would be forced backwards, thus pulling the tires to move with them as a whole. Now, if he had his foot stepped on the acceleration pedal, the tires would be in fact, trying to move forward, despite the mass that is trying to pull it in its own direction. Opposing forces would collide and the tires would have difficulty pulling the rest of weight along with it, and it would be leaving the trail marks behind."

"Given a few seconds, the force would balance and the car would be moving forward again as a whole without anything else trying to hinder it's movement. This would explain the gap between the tracks."

Shinich looked at Shiho out of the corner of his eyes, with a slight smile. 'Wonder what happened to not believing in Justice?' He thought amused. He decided to pick up from here.

"She's right." He began again with a serious tone. "The whole scenario would repeat itself with the second ram that would cause her to crash into the pole. And the rest of the trail is from both cars as they crashed into each other."

Megure nodded at the explanation as he looked at Shinichi's way again. "But then what evidence do you have against him?" he asked.

"Seta-san" Shinichi turned to look at the man. "A car mechanic like yourself wouldn't have any problem sabotaging certain parts of a car. If I'm right, it was you who sabotaged the airbags of Yamagishi-san's car."

"How could you prove that, Kudo-kun?" Megure prompted him for a piece evidence.

"This" He pulled out his handkerchief again. With his fingers isolating the crystal piece, he held up into plain sight. "A crystal piece from a brooch." His eyes turned over to Seta and on to the article pinned on the man's suit. "The brooch Seta-san is wearing."

Megure accepted the handkerchief as he gave the small crystal piece a once over and passed it on to a CSI officer for a confirmation.

"Sir, it fits perfectly in the vacant indentation, like the others." The report came in within seconds of the examination.

"You took advantage Yamagishi-san's habit of not strapping the seat belt on, didn't you?" Shincihi started again. "By sabotaging the airbags of her car, the only thing that would save her from a high speed collision would be out. It would be easy to kill her then."

"Also your borrowed books from the library was another point you can make it work to your advantage. You probably phoned her to tell her to pick up your pile and return it when she returns her's to the library, with the excuse of being busy with one thing or another.

"When she stopped at your place, you stalled her by inviting her in and excusing yourself a few minutes later so you can sabotage the airbags. In fact, I think that the act had been done within a time frame of no more than twenty-four hours."

"What the hell makes you think I have done it during that time frame? For all we know, the airbags may have something wrong with it from a while back." Seta countered.

Shinichi smirked bitterly. "Don't you remember?" He crossed his arms momentarily. "The victim has brought her car over for a wash and mechanical check up yesterday."

Seta's eyes widened again.

"Yes, it was done by you and no one else. Yesterday maybe, or just a few hours ago before you committed the crime." he nodded towards his handkerchief which held the brooch piece he had found, which is being held the officer beside Seta.

"Otherwise, such things wouldn't be found in the car after a clean up. The men who work at the car wash make sure that the car is spotless and clean before it leaves their service station. And besides, they would report it to the owner if they found something is wrong with the airbag trigger mechanism after the mechanical check up."

"And more over, how would you explain the presence of your brooch piece, out of all things, in her car?" Shinichi challenged him.

There was no reply from the man who had a shocked expression on his face, as he stared at Shinichi, mouth agape. Silence descended among those who are present and no one dared to move. Every pair of eyes were glued expectantly onto Seta, who seemed unmoving in his spot. Eyes that practically screamed a shocked 'Oh my God...' or a doubtful 'Is it really him...?' or just a plain curious 'Really?'.

Seconds ticked by and the wind picked up again as it howled into the ears of those who are present. Almost like a pained wailing of a wraith in fall.

Seta shut his eyes with a slight smile on his face. "Yes..." he confessed finally. "Yes, it was just as I had planned." The smile dissipated into a blank look as his fist clenched tightly. "That woman... She was cheating on me! She was cheating on me behind my back!" The blank looks was again replaced by a pained expression. "I've tried to make her happy. I've done everything I could... but she just had to..."

No one dared to speak a word as silence hovered in the air again, which Shinichi broke.

"You were planning to join her, weren't you...?" He asked quietly.

Megure snapped his head towards the detective at the suggestive tone present in the detective's voice. "What!"

"Hattori found a bottle of Potassium Cyanide pills in his car." Shiho picked up again. "300mg pills. Once ingested, it would take some time for it to take effect. During the time frame, the subject would exhibit symptoms of headache, nausea, labored breathing and the like. Death would be probably from respiratory arrest." The girl pulled out the plastic bag and handed it over to Megure who peered at it with interest.

"It was why the evidences are scattered all around in plain sight, Inspector. If you examine the airbag trigger mechanism in the victim's car, you'd probably find his finger prints on them." Shinichi reasoned.

"Things didn't go as planned for him, it seems. He probably planned to die in the car crash, and brought the cyanide pills along just in case. But instead, he was knocked out cold in the aftermath."

Megure looked Seta with a silent solemn expression.

"Evidences would be tracked to a corpse if they were to be found later, had it happened the way he planned." Shiho concluded silently. "It was meant to happen as such as he did not bother to hide behind a trick."

"I just... I-I..." A string of incoherent words tore their way out of his mouth in his emotional strain, as Seta kept choking back the tears that tried to escape his closed eyes. All around, the people who are present glanced away from the scene, some looked skywards and some down to the ground. No one spoke.

'I don't think you deserve to cry for what you did...' Shincihi thought with a frown. 'Seems kind of ironic...'

"Souji Seta" Megure called out in an authoritative voice firmly that, soon lowered. "We'll continue this in the station."

Seta just bowed his head in silence, and offered his arms to be restrained without any resistance. The metallic snap of the white polished handcuffs was heard as the cold metal made contact with the skin of his wrists and he stood up, avoiding everyone's eyes.

Shinichi watched the man being escorted by two other officers to a nearby police car, silently from his spot on the pavement.

"Seta-san..." Shinichi and Shiho heard Heiji's unexpected voice from behind them. They turned around as one, as did the other people. Megure and his officers halted as well at the call as they looked at the other detective expectantly. Shinichi frowned at his friend.

He had a feeling something was wrong...

"I don't mean to make you feel worse that you already are... but I have to tell you something." Heiji walked towards the crowd stiffly, head bowed and his right hand clutching his cellphone a little bit too tight. He held a small brown paper bag in his left hand. "You probably don't know yet but, there was an innocent bystander that was caught in the crash."

Seta turned towards the Kansai detective, giving him his full attention and he nodded somberly, full of regret. "Are they... alright?"

Heiji tipped his cap over his eyes momentarily and clutched his cellphone tighter. "That's the problem..." He whispered.

"She didn't make it..." Heiji looked up with green eyes darkened with angst. He hated doing this. He hated breaking these kind of news to people.

It took a moment. Seta's eyes widened noticeably with a glint of disbelief as he absorbed the meaning of Heiji's words. Did he hear wrong? His eyes stung with tears as the meaning of the words sunk in.

"And..." Heiji hesitated openly as his left hand twitched a few times with uncertainty. Finally, he took a deep breath and parted the bag open. Inside were a collection of new small clothes and other accessories for infants and babies, still wrapped in plastic from the looks of it.

"The family was expecting..."

Whatever imaginary thing Seta was trying to hold on to from breaking down seemed to slip off from his grip. Tears of pain and regret streamed down his anguished face like a stormed river fighting against it's border banks. A storm of emotions surged inside him, an imaginary storm within that even he could not control.

And that's when he completely broke down. "What have I done...?" was his last desperate words that he forced out of his mouth as he collapsed on the sidewalk, grief overpowering his will to keep standing.

The crime he had just committed shattered many people... Just a single action. With it, he had shattered a family. A family that hadn't even had it first chance at happiness.

Shinichi tore his eyes away from the scene and bowed his head, hiding his eyes underneath his bangs. Shiho, likewise, was the same, as she looked down at the ground and clutched her left arm. None of the people, policeman and civilian alike, had the emotional range to observe the scene unaffected. Each person held an expression of silent sympathy towards the man, but not a single person dared to look at the scene.

It was all quiet except for the sobs emitted by Seta - the only thing that remained suspended in the air. Incoherent and muffled words escaped his mouth repeatedly. It was practically intelligible.

But if a person would listen carefully, they would dimly make out the words of 'Why did I do it?'.

The salty tears slid down his face as it met the pavement. The crystal clear drops turned murky as the dust of autumn added it's own melancholy to the tears of pain and regret.

Something that went unnoticed by the observants... Something that no one even bothered to notice.

* * *

A/N: Chop suey gone bad, anyone? lol I swear, I'm beginning to think of this fic as one that is gone bad with too many attempts at different genres squeezed into one piece. I had some trouble with writing that case and I hope I've plugged every hole of possiblity around it the best I can, but then again, I'm no mystery writer... Sorry if it was lame. I'm sure it has many holes in it too anyway.

I had to alter my disclaimer the second time to fit the contents of this chapter, hehe... Wonder what's next? Some would have probably recognized the names of the characters I've added from a different universe - I'm not exactly bright with coming up with Japanese names. Well, if you haven't then let's just keep it that way.

Anyway, I've decided to cut this one off right here, but there would be a relatively shorter part three. I'm still working on it and it'll probably be a lighter one... hopefully. Anyhow, I'm off!


	6. Segment VI: Autumnal Melancholy III

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. All characters belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

Silent flashes of red and blue was all that he could see, while everything else in his sight was in different shades of gray. As if he was in some dream that he needed to decode to fully understand – a state somewhere in between musings and reality. He watched as the back passenger-seat door of the police car parked by the pavement shut as the suspect was hauled in. The sirens wailed to life as everyone around the car involuntarily stepped back. His eyes followed it all the way as it sped down along the road, until he could see it no more.

'True to irony, he couldn't even say it after his confession.'

Sitting on the first step of the library's entrance stairs, Shinichi snapped back to his senses and sighed as he bent forward and joined his hands behind his neck.

"No matter how I look at it, I still don't understand why a person would kill another. Even though I can see the reason they hold, I still can't grasp it." His voice was a bit muffled. "He might find his idea of love realistic - believing in a happily ever-after on the other side. But I still say the concept is twisted..."

"It can't be helped, Kudo..." He heard Shiho speak from behind him. Casting a look over his shoulder, he spotted his friend leaning against the railings behind him, peering over him.

"People kill for many reasons. Due to greed, some for personal agendas and for revenge, as well as for personal benefits."

'As if I didn't know that...' Shinichi frowned at her but remained silent.

"But don't worry..." She bowed her head. "I'm not like those people... I won't try to get what doesn't belong to me." She cast a momentary side way glance at Ran, who was sitting on a few steps above where she stood, from under her eyelashes. An action that went unnoticed by anyone.

"But you, yourself, should know that that there are worse people than them out there." Her eyes dropped to stare her sneakers silently.

Shinichi, likewise, chose to stare at the staircase hand-railing he faced. He knew what she meant. There were people far worse than murderers and serial killers. Whether they hide the trait due to shame or something else, he didn't know. But he knew they are present – in fact, maybe just about in every recess of the globe. Those sadist souls in a human vessel, is what he thought of them. The kind of people who take pleasure and draw entertainment from suffering of others. The kind of people who vicariously feed off the angst and sadness of others.

And as much as he wished against it, those 'inhuman' qualities do exist.

Ran looked at between the two of them in silent puzzlement. None of them gave her a second glance, with thoughtful looks on their faces. She felt like it was a private moment between them. Something Shiho said that the both of them could only understand. She felt out of place in their presence, something that she wished would go away.

"Kudo-kun!" Megure's voice broke the trio from Teitan High out of their induced stupor. "Great work!"

Shinichi looked up and stood on his spot to shake the Inspector's outstretched hand with a slight smile. He knew what was to come. And sure enough...

"Would you like to attend the press interview later?"

"I'm sorry, I-I've got something to do... later." Shinichi promptly declined, as he watched a disappointed expression perch itself on Megure's face but only for a moment.

The older veteran police officer turned his head and his eyes landed on Shiho. "Would you like to introduce your friend here, Kudo-kun?" He prompted with slightly curiosity

Shinichi looked at Shiho and a silent amused look was ricocheted between the two teens.

"Shiho Miyano" Shiho introduced herself seeing no other choice in sight. "Class 3-E, third year Teitan High Student."

Megure nodded with a satisfied look and briefly smiled at her in a welcoming gesture. "I must say, you know a thing or two about Science. You could become a potential forensic."

Shiho nodded politely at what she assumed to be a suggestion more than a compliment.

Turning to Shinichi, Megure asked, "Is she your partner now?"

Shinichi blinked at elder officer. "Err... S-Something like that..." He replied awkwardly.

Megure nodded again as his eyes drifted over towards the girl in question. "Say... I think I've seen you before...?" He voiced out uncertainly as he looked at her with scrutiny.

...Something they did not expect, either.

'Oh, no...'

That single thought ran though Shinichi and Shiho's minds simultaneously as a rare bewildered look graced the both of their faces, which they tried to suppress. The two teens repeatedly blinked at Megure comically. A certain memory flashed into their minds, a particular scene that felt as if it took place ages ago from this moment where they both stood. They should have known the Inspector would remember things from back then, given the chance.

"Kudo!" Heiji's voice interrupted them, the moment they were beginning to think that they had nowhere to hide. Said detective walked towards with them with an innocent grin on his face, as if to greet them properly.

Shiho took the chance that popped out of nowhere.

"I'll be on my way." She said stiffly. "I need to buy a few groceries for tonight." And with that not-so-innocent excuse, she split from the group, as she rounded the nearest corner.

Shinichi was next - he didn't want to risk it.

"Ran, let's get going." He waved his friend over, who was still sitting on the library entrance steps, with discreet urgency. He watched her as she stared at him for a moment before a slight smile enveloped her face and she stood up to walk towards them. Promptly, he turned to Heiji who was looking at him with a smug expression out of the corner of his eyes. "Thanks." He gritted out shortly. As soon as the three of them were together, they bid Megure a hasty farewell and disappeared from view, around a corner.

Megure stared at them slightly dumbfounded by their reaction. Once the teens were out of sight, he recalled the memory of one particular incident when a certain counterfeiter by the title of 'The Silver Fox' was arrested. Coincidentally, the little girl he had scolded that evening had every open trait that that Miyano had – blue-green eyes, standout reddish-blonde hair that was in a similar hairdo, among others.

"Nah, it can't be, can it...?" Megure voiced out rhetorically. He let out a chuckle at his ridiculously thought and he pushed it aside as some random gibberish. Turning around, he joined his men as if nothing happened.

* * *

"So, where's Kazuha?" Ran asked Heiji. They were walking towards the Agasa Residence.

"Oh, she still has exams. Our schedule got messed up and she had to stay behind for one more test." Heiji's expression shifted into something between a slightly sullen and an annoyed look. "Somewhere in between, I've done something to piss her off one way or another and she sent me ahead... Said I was intolerable." He let out a slightly dramatic sigh.

Shinichi, who was a few steps behind them, sweatdropped. 'Well, no surprise there.' He thought sarcastically. He took back what he thought of Heiji earlier as he chuckled.

Ran let out a short giggle at her friends' antics in Osaka, much to Heiji's amusement. "Would she be joining you soon for the short break in Tokyo?"

The Kansai detective nodded with a grin. "Yeah, and come to think of it, she would be arriving soon." He looked down at his wrist watch as they walked. "In fact, I think her train would be arriving in about fifty minutes."

Ran laughed. "So, what are you waiting for?"

Heiji huffed in mock-offense. "Are you that desperate to get rid of me?" That earned him a playful punch from the girl by his side and he laughed.

"C'mon!" Ran huffed in exaggeration, a smile threatening to break on her lips.

"Well, I'll be going now anyway." Heiji said. Raising his head to look at the sky momentarily, he frowned. "Looks like it's gonna rain any moment."

"Are you guys good?" He asked as he looked back at Ran and at Shinichi, who had been silent for a while - a few steps behind the two of them.

Shinichi nodded positively. "I'll make it."

"I've got an umbrella with me." Ran said as she pulled out a compact umbrella from her backpack momentarily before stuffing it back in.

"Right." Heiji took off his signature gray SAX cap and tossed it towards Shinichi.

Shinichi could barely catch it before it hit him square in face. Lowering it, he shot a glare and a silent question at his friend.

"Might help you somehow. You can give it back later." Heiji grinned at him before taking off. Turning around, he made off towards the previous bend they rounded. "I'll meet up you with you two later!" With a last look towards them, he disappeared from sight.

Shinichi sighed as he twirled the cap tossed his way, hooked on his index finger. Silence ensued all of a sudden but he didn't think anything of it, since he had been silent all the while himself before Heiji left.

It was the same silence that flitted in between her and Shinichi again. Ran could almost recognize it without trying to. She cast about for things to say – maybe compliment him on the case he solved or maybe something that was going on around them. But nothing of interest came to mind. The street were deserted save for the two of them – two high school students on their way back home.

Ran felt an odd chilling twinge. Casting a side way look at Shinichi, he appeared to be lost in idle thoughts. Normally, right after the detective solves a case, he would be babbling a string of nonsensical sentences about how Sherlock Holmes was able to this-and-that case. She might have called those moments frenzied given the way Shinichi would talk about his idol. She had tried, for the life of her, not be bored by his border-line practical preachings but in the end, she would always tune him out.

She never expected to miss those days and moments...

Those moments which she shared with the person that was barely a few inches away from her reach. Those moments back in the day now seemed so far away.

Unexpectedly, and probably something with the worst of timings, her conversation with Shiho popped back into her mind. She didn't know how to look at something like that. Better yet, she knew Shinichi hated lying. He hated keeping people in the dark unless it was something that _needed_ to be kept aside due to one thing or another – and she supposed he had his reasons to hide this one from her... again. Without thinking twice, the words spilled out of her mouth before she could hold them back.

"Miyano-san told me..."

She had to clear this one up with him and make sure he knew, for whatever reason he held it back from her, that she didn't hold anything against him for it. Even if it was only for the sake of his conscience.

Shinchi stopped dead in his track falling a few steps behind her, the cap falling limply in between his fingers. It took a moment before the serious tone in her voice tipped him off towards the hint she intended to give him.

"She told me..."

Shincihi looked at her back tersely, but she did not turn around. "When did-"

"During the match earlier." She intercepted his question smoothly.

"I see..." Shinichi's voice dropped to barely a whisper. This was the sort of things he always hated. Almost literally, he dragged his feet over to stand at the spot beside her. It seems it was just as he had thought earlier. Shiho was acting tense the moment they left the school grounds together.

"I'm sorry, Ran..." He apologized softly, for what felt like the hundredth time this year. "I was just... trying to keep a promise."

Ran chose to stare at some far off object in the distance that even she could not see. She chose to stare into vacancy instead of catching a glimpse of Shinichi's face. Vaguely, she registered herself nodding her head slowly.

"She's strong..." The words left her lips with a soft tone – a tone that held some sort of blind admiration. That was the only word she could think of to describe it as such. She expected Shinichi to agree with her.

Once again, she was mistaken.

"You never knew her, Ran..." Shinichi whispered as he bowed his head.

Time seemed to stand still in that particular side street of Beika City. Just that spot where the two of them were standing.

"She wasn't like this when I first met her... At least not quite like right now." He continued before pausing slightly. "She is a pessimistic person – probably even the most pessimistic person I would ever meet. Her whole life had been decided for her before she even had the chance to have a say in what she wanted to see in it."

"It's like..." Shinichi seemed to hold his tongue for a moment as he pursed his lips, slightly unsure of what to say – what to express.

Was this _him_ talking...?

A soft smile broke out on his lips, out of nowhere. "She tends to act cold and distant, but you know... Some just tend to take it as it."

"They never bother to work their way around that. Because if they ever had tried to..." Ran could practically feel his eyes landing on the side of her face with an intense yet soft blue blaze. "They just might find a whole lot of a different person."

Ran swallowed as she felt something lodge itself in her throat. She wanted to look at him and grin, say something that might shift the mood of their conversation. She wanted to do anything... Maybe even just a little trivial thing to stall with.

"Do you love her..?"

...Yet that was all she could manage – a strained and feeble whisper to the winds of autumn. The calves of her legs tensed as she stood rotted to her spot. She didn't know why she had asked, either.

A soft chuckle was her reply. She didn't attempt to take back what she said but just kept quiet.

"What makes you say that?" Shinichi replied with a definitely lighter voice. She attempted to reply at the prompt but was cut short.

"No, I don't." he continued. "But if you ask me, my feelings would be genuine." She could sense a hint of a smile in his tone. Whether it be a rhetorical or just a reassuring statement, she couldn't decipher it.

The rustling of the leaves from a nearby tree that towered over the perimeter walls of a single household was all that filled her ears for a moment. Ran could hear it being accompanied by the sound of collective bird chirps that had set up their nests on said tree, something that told her that evening was approaching. She reached out for a trend of reality as if to pull her scattered thoughts together.

Quite unexpectedly even to herself, a soft short laughter spilled forth from her lips for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Shinichi." She replied quietly. "I didn't mean to ask of such a thing so bluntly."

She heard him huff in a joking way. Turning to face him properly, she could see him standing a few inches out of her personal space, arms crossed as he rolled his eyes. "Smooth..." He called out exasperatedly in a mock annoyed tone.

Ran didn't know why, but it somehow triggered a bubbling laughter inside of her. In an attempt to contain it, she held a hand to hide her mouth but her whole body language definitely gave it away. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"You dummy." Shinichi snorted out with friendly affection, his lips twitching as he, too, failed to contain his laughter. He let out a chuckle as his arms fell to his sides and it was soon joined by Ran's soft melodic laughter. Something that he hadn't heard in quite a while, he realized.

It was as if everything was ebbing away, leaving no trace of itself behind – whatsoever. Ran felt relieved to laugh with Shinichi like this, without a single care, even though it was soft and restrained. For a moment, she could see the Shinichi she had known from her childhood peek out from the deep recesses, with the last comments of the same person that she found to be very familiar yet foreign, as their laughter filled the empty street.

Time seemed to stop for her as she immersed herself into the moment. It was only after she felt a cool and tingling sensation on her cheek that she was pulled away.

Once, twice, three times... Ran opened her eyes as she noticed the street was taking a darker hue of concrete gray. Looking up, she blinked away a drop of water that fell on her eyelashes.

Rain.

Without warning, it poured down heavily, the pace of the pattering accelerating to override that of the initial light drizzle's. The sound of the rain was almost deafening to human ears as it crashed against the concrete. Fumbling with her bag, Ran fished for her umbrella and finally managed to pull it out. She regretted stowing away the said article as she felt herself getting soaked within seconds.

Holding it above the both of them to shield themselves from the rain, they huddled together and walked with a brisk pace – shoulder to shoulder, their arms brushing against each other every few steps with a hint of lingering laughter that still remained suspended.

"Hold on, Ran..." Shinichi's quiet voice suddenly rang in her ear. Shooting a curious glance to the side, she looked at him wordlessly.

"Haibara... She split up from us earlier." He halted to look at the direction they came from. "I need to find her."

"Wait, Shin-" Ran started but he was already a few feet away from her.

"Don't worry!" Her friend looked over his shoulder. "Tell the Professor that we might be a bit late. Just make sure you get there before you get soaked or I'm sure you'll get sick!" He had to shout over the distance by the time he reached the end.

"Geez" Ran puffed up her cheeks slightly as she watched Shinichi disappear around the corner with a last feeble wave, his unbuttoned blazer flinging wildly behind him, the green tie hanging out of his pocket. She smiled. Shinichi had changed but it seems somethings would always remain the same.

Continuing on her way, she turned around a separate corner, as the familiar neighborhood filled her vision. A large house that belonged to a rich family stood in the middle of a well kept lawn. Next to it, she could make out a comparably smaller but still a decent home in the area – the Agasa Residence.

She chuckled. They were just a bend away from their destination and Shinichi just had to dart off like that. His headstrong nature was something she always secretly admired about him.

"_No, I don't. But if you ask me, my feelings would be genuine."_

That's what he told her, right?

Somehow... She wondered if he had ever noticed his predicament in that situation.

_If_ it was his headstrong instincts that took over or _if_ some sort unintended underlining hint was present in that action.

It was silly, she knew. But there she stood, wondering...

* * *

A lone drenched figure stood on the side of a pavement, staring into nothingness. It was as if she was lost with no sense of directions as a guide. The cold and chilling rain drops continued their assault as if trying to soak her even further. She didn't know for how long she stood immobile. The blazer and skirt she wore had already taken a darker tint of blue.

Shiho looked around amidst the heavy rain. She hated the rain yet she also somehow, appreciated it. It always reminded her of some things that she wanted to keep locked away inside her. But at the same time, she also appreciated the cold and numbing feeling it brought along.

She just wished she wouldn't feel anymore...

Looking around, not a single person was in sight. She was alone - in an empty world of gray devoid of any living souls. A world where the rain stained everything with that dull color. Forbidden thoughts slipped into her mind.

What was she doing here...?

She didn't belong to this place...

She never had a place here, to begin with.

Shiho shut her eyes immediately, trying to force the thoughts out - the thoughts she tried to get rid off long ago - but they seem to overwhelm her without much effort on their part.

Lost in a mental labyrinth of thoughts, she was suddenly snapped out of her musings as she felt the soaked sleeves of what felt like a piece of clothing slap against her face, the offending article being dumped unceremoniously on her head. A clean scent that had caught in the clothing entered senses. Pulling it off, she whipped around to glare at the offender, only to feel yet another article land on her head. It was a cap this time, from what she could tell, although it didn't do much.

Raising the visor to get a better view of who's in front of her, her eyes met Shinichi's smirking face.

"The grocery store is over there, you know." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards said store, in the distance on the other side of the road.

"If you want to be kicked out of the store literally before you could even step a foot in, go ahead." She shrugged.

"What the heck were you doing standing out in the middle of this down pour, anyway?" Shinichi questioned as he raised an eyebrow, ignoring her previous comment.

Shiho folded the wet clothing the best she could before shoving it against his chest. "What's it to you?" Without giving him a chance to reply, she turned on her heel and made to move away from him. A movement on his part caught her eye and she knew what was to come.

She felt herself being turned around and she bowed her head to hide her face from him. Swaying slightly on her spot due to the unexpected forced movement, both of his hand landed on her shoulders to steady her.

"Listen, Haibara" Shinichi started. "I'm not trying to meddle in your matters this time but..."

Taking a breath as he paused, he kept his eyes on her face, silently pleading with her to make eye contact. "...You're not alone here."

Shiho snorted uncharacteristically. She knew it wasn't that easy but the way Shinichi said it made it different. She felt some sort of imaginary weight that she was unaware of being lifted off her chest and she felt relieved somehow. The past is something they both knew they could try but never get rid off. But who would know...? History might repeat itself.

Under the veil of the rain, a person would see everything in gray. But there was something about him that relieved her tension and worry even though she never showed it – maybe it was his presence.

She shook her head slowly. "Let's go, Kudo" She suggested quietly.

Shinichi watched her turn around with a thoughtful frown. Absentmindedly, he kicked a stray pebble on the sidewalk as he sighed. Both of them had much to deal with for a single afternoon yet a few things remained unresolved. Shrugging, he threw on his blazer despite it being wet and followed after Shiho silently. He supposed it would be better to push it aside for now.

As Shiho turned around, she sure of one thing.

Shinichi was a person that somehow could make her see the brighter side of this world. A side that she never bothered to try and see it for 'it'.

He was someone who could bring colors to this gray and empty world. The colors that gave her a sense of life around her.

And she would always appreciate him for that.

Someday... She wished to express it openly.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that was the concluding segment for the Autumn sect. Hope you enjoyed it! :) I think I've slipped a bit with the characterization of Shinichi and Ran somewhere in between but *shrugs* whatever.

But before that, I'd like to thank my friend **OTP** for providing me with an idea for a theme I adapted in the closing scene. Love ya, girl! Thanks a lot, haha!

And on that note, I'd like to take this opportunity to reply to one of my anonymous reviewers, **haibaraai4869.** I normally reply to signed ones privately so... yeah. (Although I'm not sure why I'm posting this line before it, since people would be reading it, anyway lol *rolls eyes*)

_**haibaraai4869 -**:- lol, I was touched by your comment. Thanks a lot - that made my day that much brighter ^^. So, here's the next chapter you've been waiting for. To be honest, I've been jittery with posting up the last two segments since it was a first time attempt. But I guess you could call this one - *points upwards at the current segment* - what I consider my comfort zone. lol. Anyway, I'd like to thank you for putting up with this story, again._

So! Autumn is up and done with - that leaves Winter, which is as you probably would've guessed, would be the last sect. I suppose it's not too long, I know, but in truth, I've initially planned this one to be around 4-5 chapters long. Somehow, it picked itself up along the way.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one, once again! I'm off.


	7. Segment VII: Winter Night Sonata

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. All characters belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

Her eyes stung unpleasantly due to the prolonged exposure to the air. All she could see is a devoid space of pure white in front of her. For a moment, she thought she was staring into a lit fluorescent white bulb. Her eyes which were unfocused, staring into nothingness, refocused slowly and she watched as numerous black blotches materialize in front of her as they rearranged themselves to portray coherent words.

She was absentmindedly staring at the computer screen.

Her eyes skimmed over the white surface as she spotted familiar words that she, herself, had typed in not too long ago. Scrolling to the top of the document, the bold headings that dictated the subject of the document stared at her like an unwavering glare from her past.

_Project: Prototype 'Detective'_

The codename assigned to the development of the Apotoxin-4869 by the Scientific and Lab Research Division of the Organization.

Shiho let out a barely audible sigh as she dug the heels of her hand to her eyes tiredly. The virtual document in front of her detailed every little observation she had observed with the drug's usage on the lab mice, every version she had come up with before she had shrunk into Ai Haibara, every little alteration done to the components so as to perfect it...

It was all complied in that single electronic document.

Yet, the drug still remained a prototype to this day.

What was she doing staring at this thing?

Setting it to scroll down on its own, she watched as the list of human 'guinea pigs' come into sight. She watched as each name recorded as is, disappear at the top of the screen, unheeded – the names of the faceless people she had never met, the ones who died before they even saw it coming.

Crippling...

It all came back to her past, as always.

The Black Organization – a murder of crows, a group of people who had mastered the shadows to the point of using it to conduct operations. An underground syndicate that bore a name, so as to speak of it would mean Death. It's either serve them for Life, or if some dared to cross the line, they would find their time cut short and meet a chance to continue on on the other side. Once inducted, none can back out. The higher ups make sure of that.

Just like what they had done to her...

* * *

_A strong smell of gun-powder entered her senses. A young girl with reddish blonde hair, around the age of twelve, stood behind a firing range stall as she looked down the range with a blank look. Bowing her head a little bit, her bangs shadowed her eyes and she stilled her breathing for a moment. Her hand which held a black pistol twitched slightly, her index finger perched delicately on the trigger._

_A sound of something moving with a whoosh skimmed over the distance and reached her ear. A white target board with the shape of a human body, popped out of the ground with a smooth motion only to be met with a single bullet hitting it right in the head – exactly where a human eye would have been, had it been a real human being, to be precise._

_There was another similar whooshing sound that hung in the air. A target popped out from the far end of the shooting range as it advanced on her. This board was met with two shots – one at the right shoulder and the second hitting it square on the forehead._

_The girl used a combination of disarming tactics and intended fatal shots to shoot down the target boards – shooting the hands, arms, shoulders and other non-fatal spots followed by a shot to the head or to the middle of the chest. The shot that would send the target to deal with a Shinigami. The sound of gunfire echoed a number of times in the deserted firing range with deafening loudness , aside from the regular sound of a fresh magazine clip being loaded before the barrel is cocked back._

_Well, 'almost' deserted firing range._

_A figure shrouded in blackness stood in a dark corner as they spied on the young strawberry blonde. Looking at the youngster right now, great potential and promise was evident in the girl. Like a well of fortune... only fortune is not what they would quite call it. But they knew well enough she wouldn't make it into the External Homicide division, however good she was with the gun._

_The sound of gunshots came to a halt as a thin flimsy smoke was left hanging in the air. The young girl standing at the only lit-up stall slid a fresh clip into the handgun she held before placing it back on the stall in front of her, along with the boxes of ammo._

_A smile curved the lips of the enshrouded person as they pushed themselves off the wall they were leaning against. A hand snaked towards the inside of the suit they wore as they stepped out of the blackness, the dim light encasing the figure to reveal a woman in her twenties with almost glittering blonde hair._

_The strawberry blonde stilled her movements as she listened to the almost stealthy footsteps coming from behind her. There was a soft rustling of clothes. With a fluid motion, the little girl snatched the handgun from the stall and wheeled around before firing a single shot without hesitation._

_The older woman froze slightly, as a bullet whizzed by her ear producing a ringing sensation for a few seconds, her long hair fluttering slightly in the air. She stared down at the little girl. She could tell the shot was an intentional miss – despite her eyes were shadowed by her hair, she could almost imagine the piercing eyes hidden underneath as they bore into her own. A cold smile, almost a smirk, enveloped her lips._

"_That was some great shooting." The woman complimented the younger girl with a sarcastic tone. It was obvious she was looking for an exposed string to pull. "But you had better watch where you wave that thing around."_

"_What do you want?" The strawberry blonde questioned flatly._

_The woman let out a derogatory snort. Pulling out a small envelope, she offered it to the girl. "Your flight ticket back to America. The boarding time is just a few hours away."_

_The little girl wordlessly took the envelope as she lowered the handgun to her side. She stayed quiet._

"_Remember..." The older woman started again. "Never show or follow emotions. Human-"_

"_-emotions are a sign of weakness." The soft monotone voice belonging to the strawberry blonde finished. "I know that."_

"_Good." The girl suddenly heard the woman hiss into her ear. She didn't flinch at the icy cold and dangerous tone it held but kept staring at the dark wall on the opposite side of the spacious range._

"_So long as you know that... Just watch your back."_

_Every word and syllable was being hissed as if trying to shatter something before forcing another thing in its place._

_Rearing back out of the little girl's personal space, she turned on her heel and slowly walked towards the shadows with a satisfied smirk on her face. Slipping back into the blackness, she vanished from sight as if she never existed. Not a single hint was left behind that would point to her earlier presence in the vicinity._

_The strawberry blonde raised her head, revealing her aquamarine eyes for the first time as the light reflected off the color of her irises. They looked dull and almost lifeless, blank and devoid of any expression a look could give. Turning around, she too made her way to the dark recesses enveloped by the blackness and slipped into the void, vanishing without a word._

_All that was left behind were the ammunition boxes and a small empty glass that smelled strangely of Sherry._

* * *

They tainted her. They tainted Shiho Miyano's mind ever since she was a child – forcing their principles on her. The rules that would dictate her life.

At first, she protested. Rebelled. She tried to gain a foothold in the situation to stop their treatment of her in that way. Little did she know that those feeble attempts were in vain. _They_ already had what they needed in sight – her skills and her brains.

She should have known better that their prey would never have a chance to escape them with such attempts.

They changed her. They forced their principles on her mind and turned Shiho Miyano into something very different. The result – a human shell that could no longer feel any remorse, Sherry. For the rest of her life, she found herself staring at darkness itself. And without anything to guide her, Shiho Miyano was lost inside the vessel that formerly housed her soul. Sherry took over.

It was the kind of thing that might have happened in the universe of fantasy, only this wasn't. However ridiculous it had sounded, it was what practically had happened.

It had continued that way, only she hadn't really completely lost herself to the murder of crows. And when that twisted offer came to her, accepting it although with reluctance, had been her undoing.

Develop the Apotoxin in exchange for freedom...

'Idiot' Shiho thought with a bitter smile.

There came a time when she had to put up a stronger facade to protect herself from the cruelties of reality. It had been the most idealistic way to protect one-self at that point. And so she did.

Until, she met Shinichi.

* * *

_She was standing in a white four-walled room. The strong scent of disinfectants and medication compounds assaulted her senses – a clean scent. The room was brightly lit by two florescent light bulbs with an additional small lamp shade that sat on a bedside table. The television that hung from the ceiling in the center of the room was barely noticed by her as her eyes drifted over to the single bed up just bellow the window panes, across the distance from her. Everything from the lay-out of the room to the scent that hung in the air told her that it was a hospital room._

_As her eyes landed on the barely creased bed which sustained the light weight of a small boy of her age, she stilled her movements. With his eyes closed, leaning against the headboard of the bed unmoving, she assumed he was asleep as the heart monitor by the side of the bed beeped in regular intervals. She did not move from her spot by the door way but just kept her eyes on him_

_As she felt another gaze landing on her back, she turned around to look out of the glass panel of the wooden door. She spotted an elderly man that she recognized without a problem, with his mustache, greying hair and his plump stature. Just out of view, she could see a long brown-haired girl, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed quietly, but given the situation, the little girl knew it was out of relief._

_The old man smiled at her from the other side of the door, and she turned around without returning any kind of gesture. Softly, she made her way across the room and sat at the edge of the bed, by the boy's side. Her aquamarine eyes held their gaze on his face, scrutinizing his facade with slight suspicion as if looking to decipher something. A small movement behind his eyelids caught her attention and she blinked._

"_Kudo..." She called out quietly, but loud enough to be heard in the desolate and peaceful room._

_A smirk slowly enveloped the boy's face and he opened his eyes._

"_Looks like we both blow at this..." He snorted out sarcastically as he looked up with a drowsy expression._

_It was intended humor, but she overlooked it. Her eyes bore into his intensely, intimidatingly. None of them spoke for a while._

"_Why...?" Finally, she asked._

_The boy just raised an amused eyebrow at her question, suddenly fully awake as he blinked the drowsiness away. "What?"_

"_Why'd you jump in the way...?" She turned her face to look down at her lap._

_The boy let out a short chuckle. "Would you have preferred to be shot at then?"_

_Why, that arrogant little... The girl looked up and cast him a blank look as her eyes flashed for a brief moment. That didn't go unnoticed, but the boy just leaned back and further in and chose to stare at the blank screen of the TV._

"_You know... People have one too many reason to hate or kill a person." He began. "You can't get rid of them no matter how hard you try."_

"_But, on the contrary, you wouldn't need a reason to love or save another." There was a short pause. "We call those people friends."_

_The girl blinked momentarily at his words. She remained silent as she looked at him before a challenging smirk played on her lips. "Friends never serve their purpose. 'Friend' is just a title with no meaning."_

"_Times when you'd expect your friend to defend you and help you out... It's the time when they show their colors. They would keep silent and stand at the side to watch you take the fall alone. There is no such thing as friends."_

_It was her pessimistic side that was speaking. But was she entirely wrong? No, of course not. For everything she says, she knows there is some truth behind it. It was true to an extent – that is, if you decide to look into it._

_Coming to halt, she watched him bow his head, his eyes being shadowed by his bangs as a mysterious smile broke out on his lips. That action intrigued her for a moment, but she did not let it show._

_She didn't have time to muse on that, however. Without warning, she suddenly felt a pair of arms pull her forward by the shoulder and not a moment later, found herself in the warmth of an embrace. _

_Whatever the little girl was thinking off was interrupted. She was shocked. Stoned out. Stupified. Whatever words that next person could think of._

"_Not friends then, Haibara..." His voice whispered into her ear, like a soft warm breeze in the freezing winter. _

"_Best friends..."_

_Her eyes widened as she stared out of the window the bed was up against. She stared at the white snowflakes that fluttered in the air outside, uncomprehendingly._

_Why is he acting like this...? Why the change in behavior?_

_It was so very unlike him._

_He had lost her there. She didn't know what to think of the situation as she turned it over mentally, looking for holes – maybe he just pulling her leg, maybe he was just messing around. But the warmth of his embrace was too tempting, too inviting. _

_Too distracting._

_Warm and sincere..._

_Her hand twitched several times with uncertainty, but then before she could think of the action twice, she found herself returning the hug._

_Little did she know that that small gesture, had brought peace to the boy's mind. That that simple absentminded gesture, pacified him – quelled the what-if scenario in his head._

_What assured him was the warmth radiating from her living and breathing being._

_Despite his smirks earlier, he appeared serene. Despite the gunshot injuries he had sustained, he had an aura of contentment around him._

_And he knew he needed nothing more. So, with a soft exhale, he closed his eyes and let go._

* * *

It was one of the few solitary moments of silence they had spent together.

That was right after his successful surgery at Beika Memorial Hospital – the night during which their mission went awry. It was the first time she had been hugged by anyone, ever since she could remember. To any onlookers, they would have smiled or grinned at such gesture shared by small kids, but to the both them, it was a brief moment of solace they hardly ever experience anymore. But there was something else in that simple minded gesture of comfort.

Trust shined however dim it was... or maybe brightly, she wouldn't know.

Trust - the foundation to any sort of relationship. The main element of feeling of closeness, reliance and faith in the other.

And she realized it was what she felt about him as well.

It was just for a brief and unspoken moment, and when that was over, their facades of Conan and Ai were back on. Somehow, she wished that there was something else in there, though.

Shiho snapped back to reality to find that the document had reached the bottom. Without hesitation or whatsoever, she made to delete the entire archive of data. For a few seconds she watched as the red progress meter begin to fill up gradually, and past half way point. No one would be able complete this one now.

Swiftly, she stood up and headed for the door. Now, perhaps maybe the burden and guilt that weighed on her would be reduced somehow. The disappearance of the formula she had developed herself... would it bring peace. But as if on cue, another burden and truth of reality added it own weight on to the pile – one that she had tried to push aside and forget.

She would deal with it... one way or another. For now she just had to clear her mind.

She wouldn't run away from it, but she doubted she could be able to stand it, either. However she was familiar with pain, she was still a human being. It was just another trap set up reality. Just another one...

_-*Love is neither expressed nor declared*-_

_-*It is neither proclaimed nor explained*-_

She loved _him_. But she always knew it would never be possible nor would he return her feelings. But where else would she go to?

Yanking the door open, she stepped out and shut it behind her just as the deletion was completed. The now-green bar flashed a few times before the screen went dead, the only light source illuminating the room faded into the blackness that blanketed the empty space.

She would hold...

It was one o'clock in the morning, as Shiho stepped out of the Agasa Residence - blame it on another 'sleepless' night. The chill and biting winter air hit the exposed skin of her arms mercilessly, but she didn't mind it. She didn't lend half a mind to the feeling. Her feet moved on their own as she walked the streets with an absentminded look. Each step she took prompted the darkness to silhouette her frame until she disappeared into the night.

_-*It is very ambiguous and abstract*-_

She _will_ hold...

_*But know this - Love is always implied.*_

* * *

A/N: Bloody hell, I feel guilty for not updating this fic in sometime now. I guess I could always blame it on school and education and life _and_ - *facepalms* - ...enough of my rant.

I hope I haven't upset anyone with the lateness of this update. To everyone who has this under tabs, I thank you for putting up with it. I'm relieved I finally found some time to sit with this one and work on it. And once again, thanks to my reviewers - you guys are just awesome, doncha know? ;)

That aside, I wanna say this, though. The updates might be coming in very slowly from now on, but atleast, I'm grateful for making it this far lol. I'm expecting to end it in two segments, or maybe somewhere around that figure. With proofreading this, it hit me that this had been the first piece I've written - almost, if not - entirely from Shiho's POV, which brings another concern. It's OOC I know, but maybe you could think of it as what was underneath that peeled-off layer of Sherry. (xD)

_Yet,_ another matter... is the ending of this segment. I dunno, but it just kinda bugs me. Maybe it's just me... *shrugs* I hope so.

I've got nothing else to say beside that, so... laters!


End file.
